As pitch count rises, Scherzer sets his sights on October form

TORONTO -- Max Scherzer has been there, done that and won that.

Now, we can finally wonder if he can pull it off one more time. With 90 pitches Tuesday night against the Yankees and 90 pitches in his start prior to the break, it finally feels like we’re getting the full version of Scherzer again, not the Diet Scherzer and Max Light we were served earlier in the year.

Tuesday’s 5-4 loss ended the Blue Jays’ home winning streak at 11 games -- a new franchise record -- but they still sit three games up on the Yankees (56-45) in the American League East with a 59-42 record. It was a thriller, too, as Toronto teased the season’s biggest crowd (42,326) with another wild comeback before falling just short. It didn’t feel like late July at Rogers Centre, it felt like October.

Every conversation around this team for the next two-plus months needs to come back to the postseason, and who knows October better than Max Scherzer? He has thrown 143 innings of postseason ball across 30 appearances. By today’s standards, that’s close enough to a full season.

That experience matters. It’s part of the reason the Blue Jays handed Scherzer $15.5 million, even with question marks tattooed all over that right thumb as his 41st birthday nears.

“This is the Major Leagues; you either win or you don’t. That’s just how I operate,” said Scherzer, who holds the bar for himself 100 miles in the air. “I take accountability for that.

“Saying that, our team fought hard. We were down, and we fought our way back into that ballgame. Guys are competing all across the diamond offensively and defensively. Hats off to the guys, and we got good innings out of the bullpen again tonight. I put them in a tough spot by giving up four runs, but the rest of the team did their job. The guys are out there fighting. We’re a great team. They’re a great team.”

Now that the pitch count looks good, though, the results matter. Scherzer allowed four runs over his five innings Tuesday night, first on a three-run shot to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and later on a solo home run to Cody Bellinger.

Scherzer struck out Aaron Judge and kept the Yankees’ superstar to an 0-for-3 night, rising to each moment. But now that he has checked off the box labeled “full outings,” the next assignment is to give the Blue Jays some dominant performances.

“The extra rest definitely helped,” said manager John Schneider. “Checking in with him after, he felt good physically but just made a couple of mistakes, and that’s how they’re built to win, scoring their runs on a home run.

“I thought Max threw well, and I thought his stuff was really good. I wish he had a few more pitches to keep going there, but I think that 90 with the score where it was, that’s good for the night.”

Schneider’s right – Scherzer’s stuff still works. This has always been a question of health, period. Even on the doorstep of 41, Scherzer’s still got it. His slider to strike out Judge in their first battle of the night was the perfect example, a snapping pitch that got Goliath to bite at just the right time.

Add in the crowd, and even Schneider has to take a step back sometimes to appreciate the fact he has a “surefire Hall of Famer” on the mound in front of a packed house.

“It’s pretty electric. It’s a guy who is coming right after you and knows exactly what he’s doing,” Schneider said. “He feeds off of that. He’s been in the biggest situations that the game has to offer, and he embraces it.”

Scherzer never rests, though. Standing in front of the camera postgame, he sounded like a man who wanted to pitch another five innings beginning in five minutes. Scherzer doesn’t need to go back to any drawing board, he says, there are just some quick adjustments needed, and he spoke with the conviction of someone who knew just what those were.

Scherzer craves these moments, which is why he’s so self-critical when they don’t go the way he’s used to. It seems like the biggest obstacle is out of the way now, though, and if the Blue Jays keep playing like this, every start Scherzer makes the rest of the way will feel like an October teaser.