TORONTO — Max Scherzer picked the right time to turn back the calendar.
The 19-year veteran produced a vintage performance on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre, moved up the record books and, perhaps most importantly, helped his club keep pace in its pursuit of a playoff spot.
“It was like hopping in a time machine,” said Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “You don’t really see that from a 42-year-old.”
Scherzer captivated the sold-out crowd by striking out a season-high 10 batters, leading the Blue Jays to a 7-0 win over the Seattle Mariners that completed a three-game sweep.
Alejandro Kirk and Kazuma Okamoto powered the offence with home runs as the Blue Jays remained 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians, who hold the third wild-card spot and trounced Kansas City, 11-1.
The seven-inning, one-hit, scoreless gem was Scherzer’s best start in a Blue Jays uniform, and with his punchout of Cal Raleigh in the seventh, the right-hander recorded his 3,535th career strikeout to move past Gaylord Perry and into the No. 9 spot on the all-time list.
Scherzer is now 19 strikeouts behind former teammate Justin Verlander (3,554), who’s currently on the injured list and has said he plans to retire at the end of this season.
As Scherzer’s feat was displayed on the videoboard, the future Hall of Famer received a standing ovation and stepped off the mound to acknowledge the fans’ cheers. Scherzer retired the next hitter, Josh Naylor, on a flyout to end the frame, prompting another standing ovation as he walked off the mound and concluded his brilliant outing.
“I respect who’s on this list,” Scherzer said. “To be moving up the top-10 all time means something. It’s great to do it here at home and have the fans really get into it as well. That’s a special moment and so I’m very thankful for my teammates and the fans and their support.”
In Scherzer’s previous start, Tuesday against the Royals, he surrendered a single to Carter Jensen with his very first pitch. That forced him to work from the stretch right away as Scherzer proceeded to issue three walks in a rough first inning he was determined to avoid on Sunday.
“I felt like I wasn’t in rhythm and learned from that,” said Scherzer. “And was very focused on, ‘Hey, I’m going to get (M’s leadoff hitter) Randy (Arozarena) out in his first AB today. I want to get through that so I can settle in.’ So, took a lesson from last start.”
Scherzer struck out Arozarena on a high fastball and then punched out the next two batters in the opening frame, leading Kirk to believe that Sunday was going to be different.
“Right after that first inning I could tell his confidence was there,” said the Blue Jays’ catcher, through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I knew right then that he was gonna have a good day.”
Scherzer was in complete control, with the only blemishes being a second-inning walk to Taylor Ward and a fourth-inning double by Raleigh. He recorded 17 whiffs, eight of which came off a four-seamer that topped out at 95 m.p.h.
Afterward, Kirk reflected on the challenge that is catching Mad Max.
“I’ll tell you the truth, it feels good, but it’s not easy,” said Kirk. “It’s not easy, as we all know the kind of player that Max is. I gotta make sure that I bring my A-game.”
That A-game included his hot bat, and Kirk got the Blue Jays on the board in the first when he smacked an 0-2 sweeper from Logan Gilbert over the left-centre field fence for a two-run homer. In the fifth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added to the lead with a 108.5-m.p.h. RBI double past shortstop J.P. Crawford. Okamoto blasted his solo homer the next inning and the Blue Jays broke the game open with three runs in the eighth.
The win capped a 4-2 homestand for the Blue Jays, who revived their season with an impressive 17-11 record in August. Up next is an off-day Monday followed by a pivotal three-game set against the Guardians at Progressive Field.
“We’ve been saying we’re playing post-season games the last three weeks,” said Schneider. “It’s kind of right there in front of us, so you got to enjoy the off day and rest up and be ready to just keep your foot on the gas.”
Scherzer echoed that and while Sunday was all about his performance, he reminded reporters that “what you’re doing in the post-season matters more.” There’s a possibility he’ll get the chance to take the mound again in October, but only if the Blue Jays take care of business first.
“We’re in the thick of it, we’re in a playoff hunt, but you got to win every single day,” said Scherzer. “Today, we wanted to complete the sweep and go 1-0. That was our focus and that’s what our focus has to be for the rest of the year.”