Max Scherzer allows three straight homers as Mets are blown out again by Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers' Rowdy Tellez celebrates after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Mets on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Milwaukee. Credit: Morry Gash
MILWAUKEE — In their retractable-roof stadium in a part of the country where winter stays late, the Brewers have a certain routine: When one of theirs hits a home run, they set off fireworks from the top of the centerfield scoreboard. The ball flies, the fans cheer, the bursts go off — blasts to celebrate the blast.
Usually, it’s a nice piece of ballpark atmosphere. On occasions like Tuesday, when the Mets lost, 9-0, and Max Scherzer got lit up — and the roof was closed on a cold and very rainy day — it becomes a defining characteristic of the game.
Milwaukee crushed three consecutive home runs off Scherzer in the bottom of the sixth inning, triggering in quick succession three rounds of fireworks. The smoke appeared set to linger for the rest of the game, then reliever Brooks Raley gave up back-to-back long balls in the seventh, turning the scene into a smoldering blowout.
Also, the Mets (3-3) have not scored or collected an extra-base hit since Sunday.
“I just gotta pitch better. That’s it. There’s no other quote, no other way to do it,” he said. “Be accountable for what you are. And get the outs when you need to get outs, especially when you got two strikes.”
Scherzer’s start was the worst of his 25 with the Mets: 5 1/3 innings, eight hits, five runs (all earned), two walks and two strikeouts. That was his lowest strikeout total in an outing not cut short by injury since 2012.
He was frustrated and confused by his inability to locate pitches with two strikes. Of the four hits that yielded Milwaukee runs, two came on two-strike counts.
“I can’t put my finger on it today,” he said. “I’ll definitely [have] some late nights thinking about it.”
The Brewers (4-1) struck for a pair of runs in the first, when Brian Anderson had a two-out, two-run double. Five of six batters in the inning had hard-hit batted balls (95 mph or faster).
Scherzer seemed to settle down until the sixth, when Rowdy Tellez, Anderson and Garrett Mitchell went deep in a span of 12 pitches.
Tellez got ahold of a curveball over the heart of the plate and smoked it to right-center. Anderson got a full-count slider that didn’t slide much and walloped it to center. Mitchell got a cutter down and in and yanked it to right.
Altogether, it meant 1,198 feet of home runs. That was the second time in his career that Scherzer gave up back-to-back-to-back long balls. The other instance: July 2017 against the Diamondbacks.
“He’s human,” manager Buck Showalter said. “It all gets magnified because we’re not scoring any runs. That’s the thing that’s caught my eye right now more than anything. Max, I’m not too concerned about that . . . He’s a very easy guy to trust.”
Showalter wasn’t exaggerating about the lineup. After consecutive shutouts, the Mets have scored 17 runs in six games (2.8 runs per game). Last year, they averaged 4.8.
Don’t expect changes when they face Brewers ace Corbin Burnes next.
“I’m real happy,” Showalter said, “to go with what I got.”
Lefthander Wade Miley scattered five hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked none to pick up the 100th win over his 12-season journeyman career.
The Mets had plenty of close calls and blown chances. Among them: Mark Canha flied out to the wall in centerfield — hitting the ball an estimated 402 feet — in the second. And they wasted a two-on, no-out opportunity in the fifth.
“I got a lot of confidence. We’re, what, six games into the season?” Showalter said. “I got a lot of [hitters] with a good track record that will continue to do that. We’ve run into some good pitching early and are fighting our way through the smoke and the lights blinking and everything else that’s in the big leagues nowadays.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
