Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Max Scherzer celebrated his birthday in perfect style on Wednesday after pitching a gem of a start as the Mets swept the Yankees at Citi Field thanks to a Starling Marte walk-off. In what was his first career Subway Series start, Scherzer, delivered a performance fit for the occasion in front of another sell-out crowd in Queens.

With another playoff-like atmosphere at Citi Field, Scherzer truly rose to the occasion as he has done throughout the 2022 season so far, continuing to look almost unbeatable since coming off the IL earlier this month. The righty gave a statement performance against the best team in the majors and an outing that electrified those packed inside Citi Field.

“When you have 40-50,000 fans screaming, it doesn’t matter what the situation is, your adrenaline’s gonna pop,” Scherzer said. “You’ve got to want these types of moments and you have to want to face the best. I’m glad the Yankees – they’re obviously one of the best teams in the AL for a reason. It’s fun to have them come to your park and you respect them and you want to beat them. You want to go out there and that’s what you measure yourself against – the best.”

Scherzer was locked in from the start against the Yankees. He flew through a 1-2-3 first inning as DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, and Anthony Rizzo all flew out, and it was a similar story in the second as the veteran starter made light work of the middle of the order. He needed just 20 pitches to get through the first two innings.

Aaron Hicks and LeMahieu did both single in the top of the third but Scherzer was able to get out of the inning unscathed by striking out Judge with a slider that had a lot of success on Wednesday. While Scherzer relied on the fastball 43% of the time, it was the slider that had the most impact with a remarkable 71% whiff rate.

Scherzer’s strikeout of Judge in the third proved to be just the beginning of what proved to be an epic duel between the two true heavyweights of the sport. Scherzer has dominated his craft for years, proving what it means to perfect the true art of pitching, while Judge has mashed his way to the pinnacle of the sport. The slugger has been at the peak of his powers this year and he entered Wednesday as the favorite for the AL MVP with 38 home runs.

However, in their first matchup this season, it was the three-time Cy Young Award winner and the future Hall of Famer who dominated one of the best power hitters in the game. Scherzer struck out Judge a total of three times, including in a high leverage situation in the top of the seventh inning. With runners on the corners, two outs and the Mets holding a slender 2-0 lead, Scherzer leaned on his lethal slider to get Judge out swinging in what proved to be his final out of the night.

It was pure domination from Scherzer and a tantalizing preview of what could well be a mouthwatering World Series matchup. Judge finished 0-for-4 against Scherzer and struck out three times, including twice with two runners on with the Yankees chasing the game. For those inside Citi Field, they couldn’t have asked for a better masterclass from Scherzer in how to take down one of the best pure hitters in the game.

“I recognize how good of a hitter he is and I realize I have to execute my pitches,” Scherzer said. “I have to throw the ball where I need to against him in order to get him out. He can hit me. I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m better than him. He can definitely take me deep. But I also believe that I have the stuff to be able to get him out. It’s always a battle when you face somebody like that and it comes down to the pitch execution.”

Much of Scherzer’s success against Judge came down to how filthy his slider was – using it four times in five pitches to get the slugger out in the seventh – and the ace starter explained the thinking behind going to that particular pitch so much against the AL MVP favorite.

“I know the type of damage he can do against the fastball,” Scherzer said. “I’ve got to keep him at bay with off-speed pitches. Sometimes, your off-speed pitches become your primary pitches and I thought (Wednesday) was the kind of scenario where that played true.”

The one consistent and impressive pattern from Scherzer’s outing on Wednesday was his ability to come up shining in clutch situations. The Judge at-bats aside, Scherzer was able to work his way out of jams constantly as he struck out two and forced LeMahieu to line out after giving up a leadoff double to Josh Donaldson, and he escaped the sixth without incurring any damage despite there being runners on the corners with two outs. And Scherzer was just happy to leave the park with a big W on his birthday after playing his part in what felt like a postseason game.

“You want to come to the park and get a win. That’s all I wanted on my birthday. That’s what we got,” Scherzer said. “I love pitching in those situations, I love pitching in this atmosphere.”

Wednesday night was exactly why the Mets gave Scherzer the big bucks in free agency. He finished with seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out six. The 38-year-old also became the second oldest pitcher to throw at least seven scoreless innings on their birthday – Sad Sam Jones was 42-years-old when he accomplished the feat on July 26, 1934. Scherzer showed once again that he’s one of the best when it comes to pitching in high-pressure situations and he has a proven track record when it comes to coming up clutch, but even Mets manager Buck Showalter was left amazed by his starter.

“Max was, wow,” Showalter said. “That’s something to watch – I love a guy, at 38, who’s done the things he’s done and still has that zest, that love of competing at the best level in the world. Every time Max had to make a pitch he made it. So strong mentally. It was the first time he ventured into the seventh inning since his injury, so that was even more impressive.”