Max Scherzer. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Entering Friday night’s action, Max Scherzer owned a 6.39 ERA and had never won in six career starts at Coors Field. Pitching in the opener of the Mets’ three-game series in Denver, the 38-year-old delivered his longest start of the season to earn his first career victory in that ballpark.

Scherzer allowed a lead-off single to Charlie Blackmon to begin his outing, but retired the next three batters in order, getting his first strikeout of the night against Jurickson Profar. The right-hander surrendered a lead-off homer to Ryan McMahon in the second inning but proceeded to retire the next 11 batters he faced.

Scherzer registered two punchouts in the third inning, getting Ezequiel Tovar on a curveball and Profar for the second time of the night with a cutter. In the fourth inning, Scherzer struck Kris Bryant out on a changeup for his fourth victim of the night. Scherzer rang up Nolan Jones on a change-up with one out in the fifth inning before Alan Trejo broke up the streak with a double down the left-field line. Scherzer escaped the inning unscathed though after he got Tovar to swing over a slider for his sixth punchout of the night.

Blackmon made Scherzer work hard to lead off the sixth inning, but he ultimately whiffed on a fastball on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. After Profar singled to right, Scherzer induced a popout from Bryant before getting Elías Díaz to ground out to end the inning.

Pitching in the seventh inning for the first time this season, Scherzer ran into some traffic on the bases. After getting McMahon to ground out, Harold Castro singled to right field, and after striking out Nolan Jones, Scherzer surrendered another double to Trejo to put runners on second and third. The three-time Cy Young winner escaped the jam though, getting Tovar to fly out to end his night.

“You know he’s going to go out there and give his best, and his best is really, really good,” Francisco Lindor told Steve Gelbs in his postgame interview. “It’s fun to watch him every night out there, he had every pitch working.”

Scherzer’s fastball averaged 93.1 miles per hour, which is close to his season average of 93.2. It’s a good sign after his fastball routinely hovered around 92 mph earlier in the season. He also racked up nine whiffs on the pitch on 27 attempts. Scherzer registered six of his eight strikeouts on his secondary pitches – two each on his slider, curveball, and cutter. Overall, Scherzer generated 20 whiffs, the most he’s recorded this season.

“He’s gotten in a routine for the first time this year,” Buck Showalter said after the game. “He had a good feel for the baseball today, which is a hard thing to do in this ballpark.”

Scherzer also pounded the strike zone, not issuing a walk for the first time in a start this season. Of his 102 pitches, Scherzer threw 74 for strikes. He also praised Francisco Álvarez for his pitch calling and attributed some of his success to the young backstop.

“I’m starting to turn a corner, finally getting healthy, and was able to work with him (Álvarez),” Scherzer said. “He made some good calls today and some good sequences of what we wanted to do, so I feel like we’re getting in a good rhythm, and when you get a good rhythm we can start rolling.”

“I’ve been telling Álvy for a while: I’m better than this. I can locate. I can pitch with all these pitches.”

Scherzer dealt with a callus on his thumb in his last start, and he said that he battled through pain in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t as bad as what he dealt with previously.

In his last three starts, Scherzer has allowed just two earned runs in 18 innings, allowing just 11 hits and striking out 19 against three walks. In that time, he’s lowered his ERA from 5.56 to a season-low 3.54. The 38-year-old’s next start is currently slated for next Thursday against the Blue Jays.