The Washington Post - 23.08.2019

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SPORTS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

PRO BASKETBALL

As the playoffs approach,

the Mystics are trying to

toughen up in practice. D3

TRACK AND FIELD

Christian Coleman, a top

U.S. sprinter, is reportedly

facing a doping ban. D3

BASEBALL

Little League World Series

shines bright spotlight on

preteen participants. D14

BY JESSE DOUGHERTY

pittsburgh — Max Scherzer

pitched Thursday night, and he

wasn’t his dominant self, but

what mattered most is that he

was on the field at all. That was

enough Aug. 22, on the doorstep

of a high-pressure September, in

Scherzer’s first start since July 25

and his second since the all-star

break.

What happens next, following

a 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh

Pirates at PNC Park, is that the

Nationals cross their fingers and

hope. Hope Scherzer doesn’t feel

any discomfort Friday morning.

Hope that four innings and

71 pitches were just the right

workload to ease their ace back

into the pennant race. Hope this

return sticks, unlike the last one,

and Scherzer can get back to

picking through lineups with

everything he has.

“I feel pretty good. But like I

said, this whole process of trying

to learn what’s going on here, it’s

the recovery,” Scherzer offered

after the outing. “It’s more about

tomorrow than it is today.”

The 35-year-old right-hander

didn’t have his best command,

allowing four hits, a run and a

walk while striking out three. His

fastball velocity sat between 94

and 96 mph. His short leash left

SEE NATIONALS ON D3

For Scherzer, a solid return

JUSTIN K. ALLER/GETTY IMAGES

Max Scherzer allowed four hits, a run and a walk on 71 pitches, but

the true test of his comeback will have to wait until Friday morning.

atlanta — Derrius Guice

took the ball Thursday night,

clutching it close, then started

to run across the Mercedes-

Benz Stadium turf. He cut left,

turned right and surged

forward, and as the

Washington Redskins’ decision-makers held

their breath, he took his first hits in more than

a year.

One to the left. Another to the side. A third

from the top. The right shoulder of his jersey

popped off the shoulder pad. He rolled. He

stood up. And everything was fine.

If there was something the Redskins

needed to see more than anything else in the

wasted quarters of a preseason they simply

want to survive, it was Guice running free on

the turf, taking blows and climbing back to his

feet. How long had it been since he took that

handoff in the first preseason game in New

England last year, storming to his left only to

have his knee crumble under three Patriots

tacklers? A year and two weeks?

Around the Redskins it had been an

eternity, and they all said as much as they

dressed in their locker room after getting their

first win of the preseason in three tries, 19-7

over the Atlanta Falcons. One by one, players

talked about the agony they felt for the player

who had given so much hope for an offense

longing for a spark and how that night in New

England had taken a little out of them much

the way it had for him. Like many watching at

home, they too paused mid-breath when the

Falcons’ tacklers piled on and sighed relief

when he stood back up.

SEE REDSKINS ON D6

Back in fine form

Guice shows the Redskins what they missed last year without him

JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST

Redskins 19, Falcons 7

Guice returns, Reed is injured

during a victory in Atlanta. D6

Takeaways

Preseason win provides formula

for regular season success. D6

Ravens at Redskins

Thurs., 7:30 p.m., NBCSW, WRC-4

NATIONALS 7,

PIRATES 1

Ace delivers four innings

in first start since July 25

Nationals at Cubs

Today, 2:20 p.m., MASN

Win in court: Judge confirms MASN

owes Nationals nearly $300M. D4

Appearances
matter — to some
people. But
apparently not to
those paunchy
administrators
who cheat captive
young people to
the tune of seven
figures, known as collegiate
athletic directors. If you think
this assessment is too harsh,
check out the Ritz-Carlton
oceanside resort where the
College Football Playoff selection
committee stayed last week, at
the expense of the kids who
actually play the game.
The 13-member committee
won’t be issuing any rankings
until November, yet somehow
they required a multiday
conference at the Ritz-Carlton
Laguna Niguel, a California
beachfront hotel where the
cheapest rooms start at $681 a
night.
How did committee chair Rob
Mullens of Oregon and his
colleagues — who include
athletic directors Joe Castiglione
of Oklahoma, Scott Stricklin of
Florida, R.C. Slocum of Texas
A&M, Todd Stansbury of Georgia
SEE JENKINS ON D14

NCAA puttin’

on the Ritz is

its latest act of

greed, excess

Sally
Jenkins

Zeke who? It was
a joke — just a
joke, Dallas
Cowboys owner
Jerry Jones
swears — but as
Muhammad Ali
once told the
great scribe
Hunter S. Thompson: “Jokes?
There are no jokes. The truth is
the funniest joke of all.”
Zeke who? Of course, Jones
wants star running back Ezekiel
Elliott to play his remaining best
years in Dallas. But Jones rejects
the notion that he needs Elliott.
Or anyone. He would rather leave
this game without a fourth Super
Bowl, without his long-desired
proof that he could build a
champion completely his way,
than be considered needy. So
behind the humor of “Zeke
who?” there is the hidden truth
that, on Jerry’s team, in Jerry’s
world, there can be no
acknowledgment of a star who
threatens to transcend the owner
in importance.
Zeke, the gifted but troubled
player who is eternally grateful
to Jones for his guidance and
SEE BREWER ON D5

It’s Jerry’s

world. All

the rest are

just players.

Jerry
Brewer

On

the NFL

LES

CARPENTER

Derrius Guice, who tore his

ACL in the Redskins’ first

preseason game last year,

showed that he can take a hit,

much to the team’s relief, in his

first game since the injury.

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