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David Schoenfield
SEATTLE — Perhaps it wasn’t the classic Max Scherzer we all recall, the one with three Cy Young Awards and a surefire spot in the Hall of Fame, known for a fastball that once blazed past hitters. However, at 41 years old, Scherzer has amassed an impressive repository of pitching wisdom over his 18 seasons and more than 3,000 innings in the major leagues.
Crucially, the renowned Scherzer intensity remains as strong as ever.
Scherzer, starting his first postseason game after experiencing a challenging end to the regular season, pitched 5⅔ innings, allowing two runs and three hits. This performance led the Toronto Blue Jays to an 8-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night, tying the American League Championship Series at two games each.
Scherzer’s trademark fierceness was evident in the fifth inning when, with two outs and a runner on base, manager John Schneider approached the mound after Scherzer had secured a sharply hit out to right field.
Scherzer emphatically told his manager: “I’m fine! Let’s continue!”
Schneider swiftly returned to the dugout, marking one of the quickest mound visits in postseason history. One simply doesn’t interfere with “Mad Max.”
“It was just a matter of circumstances,” Scherzer explained. “I was analyzing the situation in my thoughts. I recognized the game state, understood my desired approach, and then suddenly, I noticed Schneider walking toward me, prompting me to think, ‘Wait, I’m not exiting the game.’ I felt exceptionally strong. Consequently, we engaged in a brief conversation where I expressed my desire to remain in the game, conveyed with slightly different phrasing.”
Schneider chuckled as he mentioned that he had anticipated such a moment since their initial video conference during the offseason when the Blue Jays were considering signing Scherzer.
“It was truly remarkable. I half-expected him to confront me,” Schneider commented. “He made direct eye contact with me, showing both eye colors, as I approached. And it’s genuine. That’s the key. It’s authentic. He embodies this ‘Mad Max’ image, and he certainly lived up to it tonight.”
Scherzer struck out Randy Arozarena with a 79 mph curveball to conclude the inning, then recorded two outs in the sixth before ultimately exiting after allowing a two-out walk and having thrown 87 pitches.
The curveball proved crucial throughout the game; Scherzer secured four strikeouts with it, matching his career-high for any game. He had only recorded eight strikeouts with it in 17 regular-season starts. He threw 10 curveballs on Thursday, all for strikes. It was a pitch Scherzer had cultivated after several seasons in the majors, contributing to his Cy Young awards, though it was never his primary breaking ball.
“That’s simply how events unfolded this evening,” Scherzer stated. “There were instances when I felt capable of delivering a high-quality curveball, and [Alejandro Kirk] called for it. I questioned internally, ‘Is this the appropriate pitch?’ but then reassured myself, ‘I feel confident with this pitch.'”
Initially, it appeared that Scherzer’s outing might be brief. In the bottom of the first, he walked Cal Raleigh with one out, followed by walking Julio Rodriguez on four pitches. Several pitchers in the Toronto bullpen began warming up, anticipating a potential inning unraveling.
This was understandable, considering Scherzer’s season-ending struggles: He posted a 9.00 ERA over his final six starts, surrendering 25 runs and eight home runs in 25 innings. In his last start on Sept. 24, he allowed 10 hits in five innings. Before that, he was pulled in the first inning of a 20-1 defeat against the Kansas City Royals. Consequently, he wasn’t included on the roster for the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees.
“The guy is 41,” Schneider remarked. “He thrives on this, and we must respect and appreciate that.”
Scherzer escaped the first inning by inducing Jorge Polanco to ground into a double play on a 1-2 changeup, employing consecutive changeups. After the inning, he marched off the mound toward home plate, as he often does, embodying the emotion that has characterized his career. He then realized he needed to have the umpire inspect his glove.
With this win, Scherzer became only the fourth starting pitcher aged 41 or older to win a playoff game, joining Roger Clemens, Kenny Rogers, and Dennis Martinez. He also became the first pitcher to make a postseason start for six different organizations.
“You’re engaged in the most significant moments of the season,” Scherzer stated. “These games are crucial; each one is a must-win. When you achieve success, it’s exceptional. This is what we compete for. We dedicate ourselves throughout the year, making sacrifices and investing effort to reach this point, to experience these moments, to secure victories in the postseason.”
He once again received support from the powerful Toronto offense — and perhaps benefited from a questionable decision by Mariners manager Dan Wilson to quickly remove starter Luis Castillo in the third inning. The Jays had already scored on Andres Gimenez’s two-run homer — marking the second consecutive game where Gimenez, Toronto’s No. 9 hitter, delivered an early home run — and had the bases loaded with one out when Wilson brought in Gabe Speier, his most effective left-handed reliever. The strategy backfired when Speier walked Daulton Varsho, followed by George Springer adding an RBI double in the fourth. Wilson then brought in Matt Brash, another high-leverage reliever, but he threw a wild pitch, allowing the Jays to extend their lead to 5-2.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a home run to right-center in the seventh inning, his fifth of the postseason and the Blue Jays’ 17th in eight postseason games.
By the ninth inning, many Mariners fans had left the stadium, leaving the Blue Jays fans, who had traveled from Canada, chanting, “Let’s go, Blue Jays!”
Scherzer, who earned World Series rings with the Washington Nationals in 2019 and the Texas Rangers in 2023, made his first postseason appearance in 2011 — against a Yankees lineup featuring retired players like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
“The excitement of defeating those players back in 2011 mirrors the excitement of today, of defeating players in this generation,” Scherzer said. “There’s no higher level of baseball than postseason baseball. Success achieved 14 years ago feels the same as it does today. It’s the pinnacle.”
