WASHINGTON -- Max Scherzer remembers being urged to try to slow everything down for his postseason debut five years ago.Take an extra breath, they said. Be calm as can be, they said. Dial down the intensity, they said.Not exactly what he needed to hear, Scherzer quickly discovered.Scherzer, who starts Game 1 of the NL Division Series for the Washington Nationals against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, was fed those frequently heard words of wisdom way back when.Pitching for the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium, he walked two batters in the first inning. Thats when he cursed at himself and realized he never should have listened to others -- and wound up taking a no-hitter into the sixth that day.Scherzer is as intense as they come when hes pitching, and he needed to maintain that in the postseason.Whatever you do to have success in the regular season, do the exact same thing. Yes, the lights are brighter. Yes, the seats are all full. Yes, the start times are weird. Theres tons of media. You have a lot of distractions; youve got family and friends all wanting tickets. The outside things are a little bit different, but mentally, you have to still be the same, Scherzer explained.I know theres this notion of, `Hey, just go out there and relax. Try to slow the game down. That can be the worst advice anybodys ever given, he continued. No, you hit the ground running and do exactly what you do. If you go out there with aggression in the regular season, you do the same thing.So expect to see Scherzer stomping and stalking around the Nationals Park mound on Friday, while facing the likes of Corey Seager, Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner and Chase Utley.And they know what theyre in for, even if the Dodgers didnt face Scherzer in 2016, when he went 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA and a majors-leading 284 strikeouts, including a record-tying 20 in one game.Obviously, hes a really good pitcher. Lively fastball. Strikes out a lot of guys, and has won a lot of games for them this year, said Turner, who has never batted against Scherzer. Were going to go study up on him and watch the films and put together a game plan.Thats the same sort of thing the Nationals might be expected to say about Kershaw, a three-time NL Cy Young Award winner who went 12-4 with a 1.69 ERA in only 21 starts this season, missing more than two months with a back injury. Since returning in September, he was 1-2 with a 0.96 ERA in five starts.Scherzer became a leading candidate for this years NL Cy Young Award -- he won the AL honor for Detroit in 2013 -- by becoming, to use his words, better as a pitcher.I continued to evolve, he said, pointing specifically to a cut slider that he throws to left-handed batters.The hitters I face are great. Theres a reason theyre driving nice cars on the other side, Scherzer said. So I had to find more swing-and-miss pitches for lefties, and still find ways to pitch effectively against right-handed hitters.It took Scherzer a while to get going this season: During April and May, he was a combined 5-4 with a 4.05 ERA.He started slow this year, Nationals shortstop Danny Espinosa said. But I dont think we expected that to continue.Of course not. From June 1 on, Scherzer was 15-3 with a 2.44 ERA.When its time to shut the game down, to let the other team know that the games over and theyre not getting any runs, its obvious. When he says, `Game over, its game over. You can see it, Espinosa said. You have to have those pitchers who, when you get `em a lead, they keep that lead, and throw a shutdown inning. He does that.Game notesThe Dodgers landed in Washington on Wednesday and went to Nationals Park for a workout that started at about 9 p.m. ... Nationals manager Dusty Baker will not commit to a rotation beyond Game 1, although RHP Tanner Roark is expected to start Game 2, and he was the first pitcher on the mound for live batting practice at the start of Wednesdays workout. I dont think theyre trying to play coy just because, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about the Nationals being tight-lipped about their pitching plans, but I dont think it affects us. ... Washington 2B Daniel Murphy still wouldnt say whether he expects to play in Game 1; he hasnt started a game since Sept. 17 because of a strained buttocks muscle.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrichAdidas Nmd Dame Udsalg ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. Adidas Nmd Sko Dame . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. http://www.dknmdskotilbud.com/adidas-nmd-herre-outlet-danmark/nmd-r1.html . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Adidas Nmd Dk . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Yeezy Powerphase Fake .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.DUQUOIN, Ill. -- Tom Hessert won the ARCA Racing Series race at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in an overtime shootout Sunday night for his first series victory since 2014.The 30-year-old Hessert, driving Venturini Motorsports No. 25 Toyota, survived the green-white-checker finish on the mile clay oval for his sixth career series victory.This is so awesome, said Hessert, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Weve been so close on the dirt so many times to finally win one is just really, really cool. Very special.Kelly Kovski was second, followed by 61-year-old former NASCAR driver Ken Schrader, points leader Chase Briscoe and Ryan Unzicker. Schrader drove Venturinis No. 25 Toyota.We started third, run third, guess were just a third-place guy tonight, Schrader said. We didnt overheat like a lot oof them did.dddddddddddd Thats a good thing. But, wow, DuQuoin at night was wonderful.On the final restart, Hessert elected to start on the outside and got a jump on Schrader. Briscoe got underneath Schrader into Turn 1 and pounded the back of Hesserts rear bumper through the corner. Hessert maintained a length advantage coming to the checkered flag, with Briscoe, Kovski and Schrader trailing. ARCA officials dropped Briscoe from second to fourth for jumped the start.Crazy night, Hessert said. We overheated so bad over that first run. ... We were just nursing this thing. We had a really good race car. I knew if we could just cool it down, we could win it. ' ' '