Scherzer milestone – Max Scherzer struck out Kyle Schwarber for career strikeout No. 3,500, but the Toronto Blue Jays still lost 7-4 to the Phillies, falling to 33-36 and raising urgent questions about how to get Scherzer right before his next start at Fenway Park.
TORONTO — The moment felt historic the moment it happened.
In the first inning Wednesday, Max Scherzer struck out Kyle Schwarber for the 3,500th strikeout of his career. It was one of four strikeouts for Scherzer. yet the milestone didn’t come with the kind of control Toronto needed. The Blue Jays ultimately lost 7-4 to the Phillies, and now the season record sits at 33-36.
Scherzer, pitching for the first time at the MLB level since April, finished allowing five hits, including two home runs. He walked two and gave up five runs. By the season numbers, his ERA is 10.23, a figure that doesn’t match the competitive fire he has long carried in 19 MLB seasons.
Only 10 pitchers in MLB history have more strikeouts than Scherzer — nine Hall of Famers and Justin Verlander. who will one day join Scherzer and the others in Cooperstown. Durability and brilliance are what get you near that plateau, and Scherzer has shown both across a long career. Still, the Blue Jays’ immediate problem isn’t the résumé. It’s what they’re seeing in starts.
Pitching at the right times would mean everything for a Toronto rotation that has been built around established starters. But so far, six starts into Scherzer’s second season, the results haven’t caught up to the expectations. The next scheduled appearance at Fenway Park now carries a different kind of weight: not just performance. but how quickly Toronto can get him back to the form that turns innings into security.
There were bright spots. The Phillies swung and missed at Scherzer’s pitches 13 times. That matched the total of Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo, who struck out eight. Scherzer’s fastball also sat at 93.6 m.p.h., topping out at 95.3 — velocity that suggests the body is cooperating.
But the Phillies made hard contact when it mattered. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm both hit home runs off Scherzer, and those damage swings dictated the outcome.
The early exit for Scherzer forced a busy night from the Blue Jays bullpen. Six relievers combined for 5.2 innings. With an off day on the schedule, Toronto can absorb that strain now — but the bigger issue is length. The team needs Scherzer to get deeper into games if it wants to keep the bullpen from becoming the default plan every time his start doesn’t settle.
There’s another moving piece in the background: Shane Bieber. Bieber is scheduled to make a rehab start with triple-A Buffalo on Thursday. and if that start goes very well. he could be considered for the big-league rotation as soon as next week. For now. it’s simply too early to predict how that timeline connects to what Scherzer’s next start will require. or how it reshapes the rest of the MLB rotation.
Offensively, Toronto pushed without breaking through against Luzardo’s mix of talent and unpredictability. The Blue Jays walked four times, taking advantage of Luzardo’s volatile command, but the only big hit they produced was a Brandon Valenzuela RBI single.
They did find a burst in the seventh inning, scoring three runs. The rally included a bases-loaded walk from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., plus sacrifice flies from Ernie Clement and Kazuma Okamoto.
After Thursday’s day off. Toronto turns its attention to the Yankees. welcoming them to the city for the first time this year. A matchup between two AL East heavyweights would normally be the kind of game that defines a season’s direction. But right now, the Blue Jays are too far from comfort to look ahead casually.
They are 9.0 games behind the Yankees and three games below .500, and before they can think about anything beyond the standings, they need to hold their position in the wild-card race.
Max Scherzer Toronto Blue Jays Philadelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber Jesus Luzardo Bryce Harper Alec Bohm Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Ernie Clement Kazuma Okamoto Brandon Valenzuela Shane Bieber Fenway Park Yankees AL East wild-card race