Max Scherzer leaves in 2nd with neck spasms after first career homer

— -- Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer?left in the second inning Tuesday night at? Miami?with what the team said were neck spasms, after belting his first career home run in the first inning.

Scherzer pulled himself out of the game before throwing a pitch in the second. After throwing one warm-up pitch prior to the start of the bottom of the second, Scherzer immediately gestured he was done and walked off the mound.

The Nationals said?Scherzer had slept on his neck wrong and left for precautionary reasons.?The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner worked a 1-2-3 first inning.

Left-hander Matt Grace replaced Scherzer while staked to a 6-0 lead.

The top half of the second was more triumphant for Scherzer as he hit the first home run of his career, a three-run shot that was part of a six-run frame for the Nats.

Scherzer's home run swing began as a bunt attempt before he pulled his hands back down and put a ball deep into the left-field seats.

The last starting pitcher to homer and log only one inning was Randy Lerch in a 23-22 Phillies win over the Cubs in Chicago on May 17, 1979, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. Lerch hit a homer in the top of the first (part of a seven-run inning for the Phillies) but allowed five runs and recorded only one out in the bottom of the first before being lifted.

Scherzer came into Tuesday's game with a 12-5 record, 2.23 ERA and a league-best 201 strikeouts for the NL East leaders. If he winds up on the disabled list, he will join fellow starter Stephen Strasburg who is battling a nerve impingement in his right arm.

The Nationals are saddled with five other significant injuries to right-handed starter Joe Ross (Tommy John surgery), shortstop Trea Turner (broken wrist), outfielder Adam Eaton (torn ACL), outfielder Jayson Werth (broken foot) and outfielder Michael Taylor (oblique strain).

Information from ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press was used in this report.