You would be forgiven for having thought that Max Scherzer had reached the tip of the road. For the second season in a row, the three-time Cy Younger winner and future Corridor of Famer missed important time as a consequence of accidents, and when he was obtainable, he struggled like by no means earlier than. The 41-year-old righty put up the majors’ highest ERA within the first inning (12.96), had points with tipping pitches, and after permitting 25 runs in his remaining 25 innings, missed the reduce for the Division Collection roster. But on Thursday, with the Blue Jays trailing the Mariners two video games to 1 within the ALCS, Scherzer turned again the clock, holding Seattle to simply two runs over 5 2/3 innings whereas an aggressive offense chased Mariners starter Luis Castillo within the third inning. With Andrés Giménez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each homering for the second straight evening, the Blue Jays received 8-2 to even the sequence.
Scherzer, who had final pitched in a recreation on September 24, added to the Mad Max lore, displaying his legendarily aggressive fireplace within the fifth inning. With two outs, a runner on first base and Toronto main 5-1, supervisor John Schneider went to the mound to speak to Scherzer, who growled and chased the skipper away, struck out Randy Arozarena on a curveball within the grime, then retired two batters within the sixth earlier than lastly getting the hook.
“I’ve been ready for that each one 12 months, for Max to yell at me on the mound,” mentioned Schneider afterwards. “It was superior, I assumed he was going to kill me.”
The Blue Jays have waited all 12 months for this model of Scherzer to indicate up. After being restricted to 9 begins final season whereas recovering from surgical procedure to restore a herniated disc after which being sidelined by shoulder fatigue and a left hamstring pressure, Scherzer made simply 17 begins in 2025. He missed practically three full months within the first half of the season as a consequence of irritation in his proper thumb, didn’t get his ERA beneath 4.00 till his tenth begin (although that proved non permanent) and by no means bought his FIP beneath 4.50. He did get pleasure from a stretch of 5 straight high quality begins from July 27 to August 19, a span throughout which he confronted the Tigers, Dodgers, and Cubs, however he scuffled thereafter. Over his remaining 25 innings, he served up eight homers, and completed with profession worsts in each ERA (5.19) and FIP (4.99).
Therefore the Blue Jays’ determination to go away Scherzer off their roster and as a substitute roll with a bullpen recreation towards the Yankees in Recreation 4 of the Division Collection following begins by Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, and Shane Bieber. The gambit labored, as eight relievers (together with opener Louis Varland) held the Yankees to 2 runs and closed out the sequence. Scherzer stayed engaged within the lead as much as the League Championship Collection, engaged on getting his physique wholesome and throwing a simulated recreation.
After Castillo retired the Blue Jays on seven pitches within the high of the primary, Scherzer wobbled within the backside of the body. After he retired Arozarena on a grounder on his second pitch, he bought forward of Cal Raleigh 0-2, then missed on 4 pitches in a row down and in, and walked him. He then walked Julio Rodríguez on 4 straight pitches, all low and away, and when he missed low with a 95.3-mph four-seamer to Jorge Polanco, his streak reached 9 straight balls. For all of Scherzer’s struggles within the first inning this 12 months — which included batters hitting .407/.455/.753 towards him in that body — he hadn’t walked two within the body all season, so this was one thing totally different.
“I form of knew that may very well be a chance coming in,” mentioned Scherzer when requested about whether or not his really feel for his pitches was off within the first inning. “Execution was only a tick off, attempting to get a really feel for the place the zone is… I didn’t need the highest of the order to beat me proper off the bat, and sadly I walked two guys.”
But Scherzer averted catastrophe. He left a curveball up within the zone, however Polanco merely fouled it off. Two pitches later he chased a changeup simply off the plate, and hit a tough grounder proper to a wonderfully positioned Giménez, who was virtually standing on second base as he began a 6-3 double play:
After the Blue Jays failed to attain within the second, the Mariners bought on the board when Josh Naylor led off the third by drilling a changeup on the outer fringe of the strike zone 394 ft to middle subject, simply over the outstretched glove of Daulton Varsho, for his second homer of the sequence:
Scherzer set down the facet after that, after which for the second evening in a row, the Blue Jays countered the Mariners’ early scoring with a giant third inning wherein they despatched 9 batters to the plate. In his first plate look of the ALCS, Isiah Kiner-Falefa chopped a double down the left subject line. Kiner-Falefa was within the lineup at second base as a result of Anthony Santander was faraway from the roster because of the again tightness. Schneider shifted Addison Barger from third base to proper subject and Ernie Clement from second to 3rd, opening the spot for IKF (Joey Loperfido changed Santander on the roster).
Up got here Giménez, who hit simply .210/.285/.313 (70 wRC+) with seven homers in the course of the common season however had been a pest from the quantity 9 spot within the postseason, hitting .269/.321/.423 (109 wRC+); within the third inning of Recreation 3, he adopted a leadoff double by Clement with a homer off George Kirby. This time, he battled to a full rely, then crushed a low-middle slider for a two-run homer to proper subject, giving the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead. Whereas Castillo retired George Springer on a grounder, Nathan Lukes and Guerrero each adopted with singles up the center, after which Castillo walked Alejandro Kirk to load the bases.
That was sufficient for supervisor Dan Wilson, who pulled Castillo after simply 48 pitches; he’d retired six of the primary seven hitters, however simply one of many subsequent six. Wilson — who mentioned afterwards that he had deliberate to be aggressive with the bullpen — introduced in lefty Gabe Speier to face the lefty-swinging Varsho. Speier had been their handiest reliever this facet of nearer Andrés Muñoz in the course of the common season, however he served up two homers to lefty-swinging Tigers within the Division Collection. He nibbled, and ended up strolling Varsho to pressure in a run. Whereas he recovered to strike out each Clement (no small achievement given his penchant for contact) and Barger, the Blue Jays now led 3-1.
Within the backside of the third, Scherzer did one thing he hadn’t executed since 2016: choose a runner off first base. Leo Rivas, making his first begin of the postseason, drew a five-pitch stroll. Arozarena lined out, after which with a 1-1 rely towards Raleigh, Scherzer stepped off the rubber and fired to Guerrero, who lowered the tag on the sliding Rivas. Umpire D.J. Reyburn dominated him protected, however the Blue Jays challenged the decision, and it was overturned:
Scherzer then struck out Raleigh on a curveball within the grime, and from there it was all Blue Jays. They scored two runs within the fourth, as Kiner-Falefa singled, took second on a sacrifice bunt by Giménez, and scored on a Springer double, with Springer taking third on a Lukes grounder. Wilson changed Speier with righty Matt Brash, who bounced a slider off Raleigh’s shin guard and much from the plate, bringing Springer residence and increasing the Blue Jays’ result in 5-1.
At that time, the largest suspense concerned how lengthy Scherzer might final. Although he allowed a two-out single to Naylor, he bookended the fourth inning with strikeouts of Rodríguez and Suárez, each chasing curveballs. He yielded a leadoff single to Dominic Canzone to begin the fifth, then retired each Crawford and Rivas on hard-hit balls to the outfield; the latter smoked one 104.8 mph into the precise middle hole, however Barger did an excellent job of working it down:
It was at that time that Schneider ventured to the mound. Relating to the assembly, Scherzer mentioned afterwards, “In my head, I understood the place the sport state was. Knew how I wished to assault, after which unexpectedly I noticed Schneids popping out, and I form of went, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not popping out of this ball recreation. Like, I really feel too good.’ So we had slightly dialog that mainly, I wished to remain within the ball recreation, however simply with another phrases concerned.”
He escaped the inning and after what Schneider described as “one other enjoyable dialog within the tunnel,” Scherzer, who had thrown 74 pitches, returned for the sixth. He wanted simply two pitches to induce Raleigh to fly out, then struck out Rodríguez on three pitches earlier than strolling Polanco, at which level Schneider referred to as upon lefty Mason Fluharty. He walked Naylor, after which Suárez singled to proper, scoring Polanco. For some motive, Naylor challenged Barger’s arm by going for third, and he was out by a rustic mile. As a substitute of getting the tying run on the plate with males on first and second, the Mariners ran themselves out of the inning:
That run was charged to Scherzer, but it surely didn’t diminish the impression of his outing. He yielded three hits and walked 4 however struck out 5 whereas throwing 87 pitches. Of his 12 whiffs, six got here by way of his curveball — 4 for strike three — but he threw simply 10 curves on the evening, in comparison with 15 changeups, 16 sliders, and 45 four-seamers (he additionally threw one cutter). Simply a kind of 10 curves was within the strike zone, the pitch that Polanco fouled off earlier than his GIDP. Mariners hitters chased the opposite 9, hitting into two outs and fouling one off once they weren’t whiffing.
It was a exceptional resurgence for the pitch. Whereas there was speak of Scherzer tipping his pitches in the course of the common season, it centered round his changeup, however batters did a lot much less harm towards that pitch (which they hit for a .279 common and .395 slugging proportion) than they did his curve, which they whacked for a .349 common and a .674 slugging proportion, with only a 23.6% whiff price, 9 factors beneath his price in 2023, when batters slugged simply .373 towards the pitch. On the Fox postgame broadcast, Kevin Burkhardt identified that Scherzer had punched out simply eight hitters all season by way of the curve, however once more, had 4 on the evening.
“I simply had really feel for it tonight,” mentioned Scherzer of his curve, whose prominence hadn’t been a part of his authentic recreation plan. “Was in a position to actually step on it and rip it and [get] some huge strikeouts in some huge conditions on it.”
The Blue Jays tacked on one other run within the seventh with a solo homer by Guerrero, his majors-leading fifth of the postseason, after which two extra within the eighth, each pushed in by Giménez. However the true story was Mad Max, who appeared just like the fiery big-game pitcher the Blue Jays signed for nights like these.
Kiri Oler contributed reporting to this piece.