Max Scherzer gets 2 standing ovations from Nationals fans, allows 1 run in abbreviated return from IL

Max Scherzer received a standing ovation on the road Monday in his first game back from the injured list.

He didn't last long but was effective in 2 2/3 innings, which allowed him to leave the game with his Toronto Blue Jays holding a 2-1 lead over his former Washington Nationals.

Scherzer was cleared on Sunday to make his first start since June 10 and just second since April 24 due to multiple stints on the injured list. Back spasms and a thumb injury were the culprit for his latest stint. He made Monday's start on his 42nd birthday.

When he took the mound, Nationals fans who remember his time with the team fondly gave him a standing ovation. Scherzer returned the greeting with a salute to the crowd.

He then promptly allowed a first-pitch single to James Wood and loaded the bases with one out.

But Scherzer got out of the jam, like he has so many times before in his 19-year MLB career. He ended the inning with a strikeout of Dylan Crews, a groundout from Daylen Lile and zero runs on the board.

Scherzer allows 1 run, leaves to another ovation

Scherzer allowed his only run of the day on a second-inning double by Luis García. When he faced Lile a second time with one out in the third, he battled for 12 pitches before striking Lile out on a curveball. The strikeout was his fourth and final of the day.

After 75 pitches, Scherzer and manager John Schneider agreed that it was time to go to the bullpen. When Scherzer’s abbreviated day was done, Nationals fans delivered another ovation to the starting pitcher who helped secure the franchise's only World Series championship.

Scherzer logged the best stint of his future Hall of Fame Career in six-plus seasons in Washington, where he won two of this three Cy Young awards and anchored a rotation alongside Stephen Strasburg that helped deliver a World Series championship in 2019.

The Blue Jays won't visit the Nationals again this season, and Scherzer's start Monday in Washington could have been his last there. If it was, he went out fittingly, with a strikeout and a standing ovation.