Max Scherzer

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Max Scherzer put together another solid start as he limited the Philadelphia Phillies to one run in five innings of work during his second outing of the season on Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to the solid performance, Scherzer provided a positive update on his hamstring.

“It’s not an issue,” Scherzer said. “I feel good.”

Not only did he indicate that he felt better, but it reflected in his pitches. Scherzer used his fastball at a much lower rate than his career average in his last start against the Washington Nationals. His fastball velocity was also down last time as he only hit 95 MPH or more three times. Against the Phillies, he sat in the mid 90’s, reached 95 MPH or higher 23 times, and topped out at 97 MPH.

The 37-year-old got into trouble in the first and fourth innings but did not succumb to the pressure in those situations. His efforts provided the Mets with their fifth win in their first seven games of the season.

Scherzer encountered issues with his control in the first inning as he walked three of the first four batters he faced to load the bases with one out. This was unconventional for Scherzer who led the National League in walks per nine innings (1.8) last season.

However, Scherzer recalibrated himself to have an excellent sequence of pitches against Jean Segura, which resulted in a strikeout on an 85 MPH changeup in the dirt.

Scherzer followed that up by getting Didi Gregorius to ground out to first base to escape the inning unscathed.

In comments after the game, Scherzer explained that some of his shakiness at times was a result of being at full health from the minor hamstring issue.

“It wasn’t that I was too strong,” Scherzer said. “It’s just that I actually had my leg underneath me now. I felt good out there and so it was kinda recalibrating everything back to when you actually feel good.”

He further readjusted in the second inning. Other than allowing a single to Bryson Stott (who was erased trying to leg out a double), Scherzer struck out Johan Camargo and Matt Vierling on seven pitches.

In the third, Scherzer turned in a 13-pitch, 1-2-3 inning. He picked up his fourth strikeout of the game in the inning against J.T. Realmuto, who he got swinging on a nasty 86 MPH slider.

The fourth inning did not come as easily for Scherzer. On the first pitch of the inning, he was greeted with a double off the bat of Nick Castellanos. Segura moved Castellanos to third as he legged out a single on a ball hit softly to short.

Scherzer nearly escaped the inning after striking out Gregorius and Camargo, but gave up an RBI single to Stott. He then once again rebounded a pitch later as he got Vierling to pop out to second on an 86 MPH slider low in the zone.

At 83 pitches, Scherzer came back out for one more inning in the fifth. He limited the Phillies to a Realmuto single in the shutout inning.

Overall Scherzer picked up seven strikeouts and his second win of the season in a five-hit, three-walk, one-run effort. He continued a stretch of dominance against the Phillies, and specifically at Citizens Bank Park where he is 11-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 12 starts.

His performance also extended a streak of 21 consecutive starts without a loss and another streak of 15 games in which his ballclub has been victorious in one of his starts.

“You show up and try to go 1-0 everyday,” Scherzer said. “Does not matter what has happened in the past. You have to have the confidence to go out there to let you know you can win every single day. And so right now, just feed off that and try to go 1-0 everyday.”

Scherzer will look to go 1-0 again next week as he makes his Citi Field debut against the San Francisco Giants.