Dale Zanine-USA TODAY

Max Scherzer gave the Mets everything he could on Monday evening in the Bronx, but it was not enough to keep him from being credited with his 100th career loss on a night the Mets’ bats were stymied by Yankees right-hander Domingo German.

Scherzer’s night got off to a rough start when he plunked Yankees outfielder Andrew Benintendi with a 90 mph cutter to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Benintendi would advance to third on a soft single by Anthony Rizzo and eventually came home on a DJ Lemahieu sacrifice fly.

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the second inning, Scherzer was victimized by MVP candidate Aaron Judge, who took him deep to right field for a homer–his 47th of the year–that extended the Yankee lead to 2-0 in a game they would never trail. Scherzer worked around a couple of baserunners in the fourth before Benintendi victimized him in the fifth inning with a run-scoring double. Without his best stuff, Scherzer tried his best to keep tame the Yankees and give his offense a chance to fight back into the game.

That chance was taken by Daniel Vogelbach, who crushed a German changeup into the bullpen in right-center field for a two-run homer that pulled the Mets to within a run.

The Mets ran Scherzer back out for the bottom of the seventh inning, but he was unable to keep the Yankees off the board after a Francisco Lindor error put a runner on second with one out in the inning. After retiring Marwin Gonzalez on a popout, Scherzer allowed back-to-back singles to Benintendi and Judge, extending the Yankees lead to 4-2 and ending his night.

In all, Scherzer completed 6 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs, a walk, and recording a very un-Scherzer-like three strikeouts. It’s the second start in a row he’s given up four earned runs. He’d only given up that many once in his first 16 starts.

After the game, Scherzer pointed the finger at himself.

“Two things are going on at the same time. Give credit to the Yankees for what they were able to do,” he said, “But I can also look in the mirror and tell myself I can put the ball in better spots and execute better, as well.”

He called Monday night a “grind,” noting that he thought the at-bats against Benintendi and the lack of execution during them were what cost him and the Mets the game.

Manager Buck Showalter indicated after the game that Scherzer would receive an extra day of rest before his next start. Scherzer has pitched nearly every fifth day since returning from injury in mid-July.