This, as you may know, ties a record.
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Never, says former teammate Miguel Cabrera, did he throw the ball the way he did on Wednesday night.
His mission had been accomplished. In tying a major league record shared by three other pitchers, Scherzer made history with little time wasted nipping at the corners.
“It was a great game”, Chicago manager Joe Maddon said.
“The first inning I ran in and I said to (Jayson Werth), ‘That’s Max, ‘ ” Bryce Harper said.
“That’s some serious company”, Scherzer said. “It won’t sink in right now”. “It is an awesome accomplishment”.
He got the win, all right. The right-hander, who pitched two no-hitters last season and struck out 17 in the second one, joined Roger Clemens (twice), Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson as the only Major League Baseball pitchers to compile 20 strikeouts in nine innings. “Tonight, at the end of the night, it was a special night, because strikeouts are sexy”. Of his 20 strikeouts, 11 came on fastballs. Of his 119 pitches, 97 were strikes. “They’d have walked him”, Ausmus explained. “He was dominant out of the gate”.
Garcia’s only blemish came on a two-run homer by C.J. Cron in the fourth inning, but the runs were unearned because the homer came immediately after third baseman Matt Carpenter’s two-out error. By the sixth, he had 13. Victor Martinez singled to put the tying run on base.
He struck out the side in the eighth inning to a standing ovation.
“It was something that happened over time”, Strasburg said. “I felt strong and I was nearly getting better as the game went along”. Zimmerman hit two home runs in the game. Noah Syndergaard became the second pitcher in Mets history to hit two home runs in a game on Wednesday night, giving NY a 4-2 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers through five innings. Scherzer was very impressive, finishing the game with 20 strikeouts.
“He got 20 strikeouts today”, Cabrera said.
St. Louis did more than survive a Game 7 this time. “I respect and admire how they go about their game”.
After allowing seven runs on four homers in an 8-6 loss to the Cubs on Friday, Scherzer responded with one of the finest outings of his career.
Then came Victor Martinez, who singled to left.
As stellar as Jordan Zimmermann has been for the Tigers this season – he was sharp again in his seventh start of the season – he was no match for the brilliance of his old teammate. “There’s a reason that guy gets $210 million dollars”. But Pedro Strop (1-1) failed to retire any of the five batters he faced in the seventh and was charged with three runs and three hits. He had done his research. “There’s something about 20 in this game”.
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Contact Anthony Fenech: [email protected]. Incredibly, in those four games with 15 or more strikeouts, Scherzer has walked just two batters combined: One against Milwaukee, and one against the Pirates while he was still with the Tigers back on May 20, 2012, when he struck out 15 over seven innings.
