Fiery Max Scherzer pitches a gem, demands to stay in game for Toronto Blue Jays
Photo credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images
A fiery Max Scherzer turned back the clock with a vintage pitching performance for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series at T-Mobile Park on Thursday.
Max Scherzer wouldn't come out. In the fifth inning of his Blue Jays postseason debut, Scherzer fought to stay in.
And he won his first postseason game in six years, with the Blue Jays taking down the Mariners on Thursday in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, 8-2.
Scherzer earned his eighth postseason win and first since the 2019 World Series for Washington against Houston.
Making his 500th major league start, regular season and postseason combined, he became the oldest pitcher to start a postseason game since Jamie Moyer was 45 with the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 World Series.
The veteran right-hander yielded three hits, one of which was a solo home run by Josh Naylor in the second inning.
Scherzer settled in from there, and was not removed until manager John Schneider's second mound visit.
Max Scherzer finished four of five Game 4 K's with curveballs. He's been working with Blue Jays hitting coaches on when/how to deploy it:
"In those moments, I needed to execute the curveball exactly in this location. And I wasn't going to get beat on location with the curveball"
"In those moments, I needed to execute the curveball exactly in this location. And I wasn't going to get beat on location with the curveball"
Max Scherzer refuses to come out of the game in the fifth
As Schneider pushed up the dugout steps in the fifth inning of Game 4 in this American League Championship Series, the 41-year-old right-hander shouted: «No!»
After a quick conversation at the mound, Schneider retreated to the dugout.
Max Scherzer was NOT coming out of this game 😳
Facing his next hitter, he picks up the strikeout to end the 5th!
Facing his next hitter, he picks up the strikeout to end the 5th!
The screaming Scherzer earned a few more batters, rewarding his manager with three more outs.
The future Hall of Famer finished off the fifth inning with a strikeout of Randy Arozerena and returned for the sixth, getting two more outs.
When Schneider made the trip to the mound everybody in the Blue Jays dugout anticipated a fiery response from Scherzer, and George Springer had fun doing impressions of the confrontation for his teammates and coaches.
The dugout couldn't believe what they just witnessed 😭
After the game, The skipper recounted the conversation.
«I thought he was going to kill me. It was great,» Schneider said with a smile. «He has this Mad Max persona, but he backed it up tonight.»
Reporters asked the Blue Jays manager exactly what was said on the mound between them and Schneider replied with a grin:
«He started the conversation with 'I'm good',» Schneider said with a smile. «I said, 'Are you sure?' And I can't really well, you can probably read lips? I told him to execute. I told him that I was going to leave him in, and to execute. And he did.»
Scherzer's final line of 5 2/3 innings and two earned runs was his best start of this season since Aug. 25, and it was his longest postseason outing since 2021.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 17 | 547 ANSWERS Fiery Max Scherzer pitches a gem, demands to stay in game for Toronto Blue Jays Do you think Max Scherzer has one more postseason start for the Blue Jays in him? | ||
| Yes | 454 | 83 % |
| No | 63 | 11.5 % |
| Too early to tell | 30 | 5.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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