New York - for Max Scherzer, a landmark win proves elusive. Now for the Mets hoping to ride Scherzer deep into October, they hope it won’t be long before he gets another bite of that apple.
The shadows of the slanted issue that stopped Scherzer for about seven weeks earlier in the year reappeared Saturday night, casting a cloud over the Mets’ 7-1 loss For the citizens of Citifield. Scherzer was knocked out after five innings and 67 throws due to left-side fatigue in what he and the Mets described as a precautionary move, aimed at keeping three-time winner Cy Young healthy for the extended run.
And when asked specifically if he expected to make his next start, which was already scheduled to come in for an extra break, Scherzer said he would.
“I don’t have any sprains,” Scherzer said. “The left side was getting tired more than usual. This was a precautionary move given the history of the deflector. Was there a scenario where I could get out of sixth and be fine? Yes. It could have happened. But if I went out to sixth and got hurt, I wouldn’t I could never come here and look men in the face and say I made the right decision. It was better to be safe than sorry in this scenario.”
Manager Buck Showalter said, “He didn’t ask to come out. We didn’t think it was a good idea to push it, and hopefully he can make his next start.”
In pursuit of a career 200 win for the third time, Scherzer showed no outward signs of compulsion as he completed five rounds of one-ball runs against his former team. But Scherzer began to feel his left side pull in the fourth inning, alerting Showalter after the sensation had not dissipated in the fifth inning. That was all the Mets needed to hear. They proceeded with extreme caution, aware of Scherzer’s injury history and what it would mean for the club over the coming weeks and months. Hence the alarm bells that reverberated through the Queens when Tommy Hunter replaced Scherzer to start sixth in the 1-1 match.
“I didn’t hurt myself,” Scherzer explained. “Nothing happened. Nothing tightened. I just had general fatigue on my left side. This is where you can get injured, when you get tired of being tired. That was the reason to come out.”
Scherzer was actually at his best just before the exit, retiring seven times in a row and side in 10 pitches on the fifth. Later, he emphasized that the case was fundamentally different from the oblique strain that kept Scherzer out of action from mid-May to early July. The concern for him and the Mets was how fatigue affected the same area.
The 38-year-old has been working full tilt since returning from that early dynasty, averaging 6 2/3 runs and 98 starting throws over his 11 starts. He was also hugely effective in those matches, hitting a 2.10 ERA with 89 strokes. Scherzer finished seventh in nine of those starts, and completed six runs in the other two rounds.
“Max is very good at understanding the big picture,” Showalter said. “He’s as good as he gets. That’s why he did the things he did as much as he knew himself. He didn’t need to get out of the game. He’s very candid about how he was feeling, and we responded to what a really good rami knows himself.”
As a result, Scherzer was long gone by the time Adam Ottavino coughed the go-ahead from Homer Lynne Thomas for eighth, sinking the Mets on a night that had little rallying against Patrick Corbin. Then Atlanta’s victory in Miami reduced New York’s lead over the Braves in Eastern National League into two games, with 28 games to play. The remaining schedule gives a healthy Scherzer for up to six more starts for the regular season. How long it will end up may go a long way toward determining the division.
“I couldn’t take any risks, especially when it’s the calendar,” Scherzer said. “There was no time left to reload. I think that played an equally important role in getting out after five.”