Max Scherzer proves his worth, especially in Aaron Judge matchups
Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer walks off the mound after the struck out the Yankees' Aaron Judge to end the top of the seventh inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Only Max Scherzer, the highest-paid player in baseball, could make his $43.3 million salary for this season feel like a bargain.
Time will tell about the next two years of his $130-million contract. But Scherzer’s dazzling performance Wednesday night at Citi Field, with Steve Cohen watching from the owner’s box, only confirmed that there probably is a very short list of investments the multi-billionaire feels better about than luring the three-time Cy Young winner to Flushing last winter.
Scherzer not only fired seven scoreless innings to protect a 2-0 lead in the July caldron created by 46,693 raucous fans, he repeatedly went toe-to-toe with the Yankees’ MVP candidate Aaron Judge -- and beat him convincingly in each one. Scherzer allowed five hits, two walks and struck out six, whiffing Judge three times.
“Max was -- wow,” Buck Showalter said, giving up on finding the right superlative. “Sometimes I caught myself almost spectating because the way he was competing out there, it was something to watch.”
This was Scherzer’s Subway Series debut, but he owned the stage like he spent his entire 15-year career in the New York spotlight. The only thing he couldn’t do was deliver the W by himself. Scherzer lowered his ERA to 2.09, and he’s now held opposing hitters to a .136 average (3-for-22) with RISP since his return from the IL, but his shot at a victory unraveled Wednesday when David Peterson teed up a tying two-run homer to Gleyber Torres in the eighth inning.
The Mets needed to rally in the ninth for Starling Marte’s one-out single to decide the 3-2 victory over the Yankees. But make no mistake -- this was Scherzer’s game, from the opening four-seamer to the final slider that whiffed Judge to strand the tying runs in the seventh inning, fittingly with pitch No. 99.
Scherzer once again used the sheer force of his will to help the Mets complete the two-game sweep of the Subway Series, just like he’s done nearly every time he’s taken the mound since arriving in Flushing. And the bigger the moment, the stronger Scherzer seems to be become. He’s already counseled his teammates to embrace the pressure of these confrontations, to surf the emotional surges, and Scherzer thrives on them.
“When you’ve got 50,000 fans screaming, it doesn’t matter what the situation is, your adrenaline is always going to pump in those situations,” Scherzer said. “I love pitching in these situations. Love pitching in this atmosphere. You’ve got to want the ball in these type of moments.
“The Yankees are obviously one of the best teams in the AL, for a reason. You want to beat them. You respect how good they are, the threats they have up and down their lineup, and that’s what you measure yourself against -- the best.”
The Mets picked up a number of contender-caliber upgrades during the offseason, but Scherzer was the perfect piece, from both a talent and attitude perspective. While he’s already missed seven weeks this season due to the left oblique strain, Scherzer only tolerated two rehab starts before rejoining the rotation, as the resident ace during Jacob deGrom’s own 4 1/2-month recovery from a stress reaction in his shoulder blade.
With all that’s transpired since the dynamic duo shared the same Grapefruit League game in Port St. Lucie, there’s no longer any debate who is the real No. 1 of these Mets. And Scherzer again proved deserving of the title Wednesday night just by his domination of Judge, who apparently stumbled upon his Kryptonite in the form of Max’s maddening slider.
In the third inning, Scherzer struck out Judge on five pitches -- he waved hopelessly at the last slider -- to strand two. When Judge led off the sixth, Scherzer emptied his arsenal, going right down the list for another K: fastball, curve, fastball, changeup, slider.
But the defining moment of the whole night came in the seventh, when Judge came up again with two outs and two on. Once Judge dug in, most of the crowd already was on its feet, the stadium buzzing. And then Scherzer went to work, carving up Judge with sliders a five-pitch K that sent the Citi fans into a frenzy.
“I recognize how good of a hitter he is, and I’ve got to execute my pitches,” Scherzer said. “He can hit me. I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m better than him. He can definitely take me deep. But I also believe I have the stuff to get him out.”
Not bad for his 38th birthday, and the seemingly ageless Scherzer now has a career 0.82 ERA on the occasion, becoming the second oldest pitcher to throw at least seven scoreless innings on his birthday (The White Sox’s Sam Jones threw a shutout on his 42nd birthday to beat the Senators in 1934).
But the numbers that really count are 61-37, a record we’re confident in saying the first-place Mets wouldn’t have without Scherzer.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
