Jul 22, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer (21) reacts in the dugout during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn’t a script fit for the silver screen, but Max Scherzer‘s long-awaited return to Citi Field on Friday night was solid enough viewing. In what was the Mets’ first game back after the 2022 All-Star break, and Scherzer’s first time on the mound in Queens since recovering from an oblique injury, it was the Padres who ultimately won the day with a 4-1 win.

However, there were positives. Scherzer looked sharp for the most part and he continues to lock it in after missing time on the IL with that oblique injury. The righty also made history on Friday by passing both Curt Schilling and Bob Gibson to move into 15th place on MLB’s all-time strikeout list with 3,118 career strikeouts. Given that Gibson was a childhood idol growing up in St. Louis, it was a pretty cool moment for Scherzer.

“That was my dad’s favorite pitcher. I’m definitely going to give the ball to him,” Scherzer said. “For me as a kid growing up, he was one of my idols. I did book reports on him left and right. I know so much of his career and what he meant to the St. Louis Cardinals organization and obviously to my dad and me. So to pass him, that’s a huge thing for me, personally.”

Pretty cool indeed.

In terms of the game itself, the story of the game was always going to be Scherzer’s first outing at Citi Field since May 18, and his duel with Padres pitcher Yu Darvish. The two went head-to-head and refused to give an inch in the early innings, with Scherzer dealing early.

He struck out his first two batters with a lethal combination of his 4-seam fastball and cutter, with the former pitch averaging 94.0 MPH on Friday night. Manny Machado popped out to third to complete a 1-2-3 inning and Scherzer looked to be heading for another in the second as he again began with two strikeouts, with his fastball again being the main weapon of choice along with the slider.

However, Eric Hosmer hit a double on a 94.9 MPH fastball and Austin Nola then walked, but Scherzer was able to work a grounder to Pete Alonso at first base to get out of the inning unscathed. Despite hitting C.J. Abrams with a pitch to begin the third with a man on base, Scherzer was again able to work his way out of a jam to keep it a scoreless game heading into the fourth.

Scherzer relied on his fastball 52 percent of the time on Friday and it was largely successful with a 35 percent whiff rate, while his slider was also working with a 50 percent whiff rate. However, the fastball would eventually let the veteran down in the fourth as the Padres began to wreak some damage. Luke Voit began things by hitting a single on a line drive, before Hosmer absolutely crushed a fastball over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer to give the Padres the lead.

It was a poorly executed pitch as Scherzer left the fastball over the heart of the plate and, while he would go on to get through the fifth and sixth innings without giving up another run, that home run given up to Hosmer ultimately proved the difference. And it was Darvish who won the pitching duel after he held the Mets to just one earned run over 7.0 innings.

“First off, give credit to Darvish,” Scherzer said. “He pitched really well. He was having quick innings there in the first part of the game, and it was kind of a time of possession thing where I was grinding through the first three innings and he was very efficient. That’s usually a tough situation to pitch in. Usually, I like being on the other side of that, forcing the other pitcher to have to grind.”

While the opening few innings did prove to be a war of attrition, the two-run homer was really the only black mark on Scherzer who finished strong and looked solid overall. He finished with two earned runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in six innings pitched and now has a 2.28 ERA on the year. But, you don’t carve out the kind of career the three-time Cy Young Award winner has without trying to seek out perfection in every start.

“I got caught there in the fourth inning where I gave up a single and a homer,” Scherzer said. “I just felt like that was a big blow at that point. I was able to kind of keep it together and finish six innings, but like I said, I got outpitched. There’s some good here, not going to beat myself up too much, but I definitely want to pitch better.”

And, ultimately, as Mets manager Buck Showalter said, Scherzer did do enough to win the game on Friday but the bats just went cold for the Mets with Starling Marte the only player able to get anything going at the plate.

“He pitched well enough to win most games,” Showalter said. “We just couldn’t gather anything offensively for him.”