Scherzer Shelled for Seven Runs; Mets Facing Elimination

Max Scherzer was meant to set the tone for the New York Mets in Game 1 of their National League Wild Card matchup against the San Diego Padres on Friday. He did, but just not in the way anyone was expecting or hoping. As a result of what was a shocking implosion on the mound, the Mets are now one game away from seeing their season end in a bitterly disappointing fashion.

When the front office, led by new general manager Billy Eppler, decided to make a huge splash in the offseason by giving Scherzer a big-ticket, three-year, $130 million contract, they did so with October in mind. One of the most proven and decorated pitchers in Major League Baseball, Scherzer would bring a winning mentality with him to Queens to a team that was in dire need of a culture change and players who knew what it took to get the job done when it mattered the most.

Scherzer was made the poster boy, the jewel in the crown of the new era of Mets baseball for nights like Friday. He was born to pitch in such pressure-cooker situations and to help lead this team to the promised land, and Mets manager Buck Showalter made him the Game 1 starter in order to set the tone for the rest of the series and, indeed, the postseason.

However, what transpired was a car crash of an outing that has left ugly wreckage, an aftermath that could get worse if Jacob deGrom is unable to produce a performance for the ages on Saturday. With his very first pitch of the night, Scherzer failed to live up to his reputation for having ice in his veins when it comes to delivering the goods on the biggest stage. Instead, he choked. It was as brutal and as simple as that.

The mere sight of Scherzer leaving the field after less than five innings and just 80 pitches was jarring, especially considering that the future Hall of Famer was met with a cascade of boos by a packed out Citi Field. This wasn’t in the script. The veteran was meant to deliver a gem, and instead, he crashed and burned. He gave up four home runs – the most he’s allowed in his postseason career – and he’s now allowed 11 earned runs and six home runs on 16 hits in his last two outings. It was tough to watch, but it is an experience that Scherzer will only learn from in the opinion of his manager.

“He lives and learns through some things and he moves on,” Showalter said after the game. “He’ll be in the dugout (on Saturday) pulling for Jake and our club and hoping he gets another chance to pitch for us. It is just the competitive nature and you can imagine how frustrating it is for him. It is the command that is the thing that is frustrating for him. He’s got good stuff and when he can command three pitches and sometimes four, it is fun to watch. He had a pitch on (Josh) Bell for the home run, he was trying to throw balls certain places and it leaked completely away from where he wanted it to. That was what was frustrating for him.”

With a sold-out and electrified Citi Field finally able to embrace postseason baseball for the first time since 2016, it didn’t take long for the hope, the excitement, and the expectation to all be snatched away in one brutal strike. Just one pitch, actually, as Jurickson Profar hit a leadoff single to start what was just an ugly, ugly night at the office for Scherzer. Josh Bell would then hit a two-run homer later on in the first inning, and that laid the foundations for what was to follow.

Command was the biggest problem for Scherzer, and it continued a worrying trend that carried over from his last start in Atlanta, where he allowed four earned runs on nine hits with two home runs. The three-time Cy Young Award winner didn’t look comfortable all night, and he detailed his struggles with the fastball, in particular with that pitch inviting the most damage.

“My fastball was running on me,” Scherzer said. “I didn’t have a good fastball location and every time for me, working glove side with my fastballs, usually when I execute that it stays on playing on the glove side part of the plate and usually has ride, so I keep on the glove side from watching the film and just watching how they were able to take swings. My fastball was running on me. I wasn’t able to command that fastball the way I usually can and that’s my bread and butter to be able to set up everything else. When my fastball is flat and then running, that’s usually when I get hit a lot and obviously I got hit a lot.

“I don’t know why that is. I thought I made the right adjustment to come in tonight and usually the fastball has ride, but (on Friday) it didn’t. I had a feel for what was going on in the Atlanta start, thought I made the adjustment to get it right and that’s why I don’t know why the fastball ran (on Friday). I don’t know why I didn’t have my good fastball. There were several fastballs I watched where the fastball almost looked like it was sinking versus having ride, so it is going to be a late night for me.”

After retiring his next three batters and looking like he was settling into the game, Scherzer was taken long again, this time by Trent Grisham, who sent a fastball to right center field and over the wall. Scherzer looked like he recovered again by sitting down his next seven straight batters, but he ran into more trouble in the top of the fifth. Ha-Seong Kim singled, and Austin Nola hit a ground-rule double before Profar launched a three-run homer to blow the game wide open.

That was just the tip of the iceberg, though. Manny Machado came up to the plate in the same inning and hammered the final nail in the coffin for Scherzer, blasting a 381 ft home run to left center field to effectively seal the game for the Padres and put the final exclamation points on a horror night for Scherzer. The veteran left the game having allowed seven earned runs and four homers in just under five innings of work. It was a rare low point in what has been a stellar career for the righty, and it was also an unexpected black mark on an impressive postseason resume.

“Of course I’m disappointed,” Scherzer said. “Baseball can take you to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and this is one of the lowest of the lows. I can make adjustments, come back and attack. I know what I need to do to be successful and, if I get another shot to pitch, I know what I need to do.”

The Mets have developed a nice habit of quickly turning the page following a significant setback all year long, and with deGrom on the mound on Saturday, Scherzer will be praying that his fellow ace can continue that trend to ensure this team lives to fight another day and that his nightmare start doesn’t prove to be the overriding memory of 2022.

“Just win,” Scherzer said.” “They’ve done it the whole year, turn the page, move on compete the next time and we’ve got Jake going, so that will be good.”