Max Scherzer, Mets swept by Tigers in doubleheader
DETROIT — Max Scherzer’s session throwing batting practice to the Tigers punctuated a disastrous day for the Mets.
The questions can perhaps begin on whether Scherzer, the Mets co-ace, will be the same again now that he’s been busted by the rosin police.
Or was Wednesday night just a case of a rusty pitcher who had barely received work over the last three weeks?
In his return from a 10-game suspension, Scherzer failed to complete even four innings and got battered for six runs by an anemic lineup (which entered the day last in MLB in scoring) in the Mets’ 8-1 loss to the Tigers in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Comerica Park.
The Mets lost the first game 6-5 after Adam Ottavino flushed an eighth-inning lead.
It’s hardly the start the Mets needed to this 13-game stretch against underwhelming teams.
But lately the Mets, with eight losses in 10 games, have fallen into that same category.
Scherzer had last pitched on April 19 at Dodger Stadium, where he was ejected for violating MLB’s rules on foreign substances.
Max Scherzer struggled in his return from a 10-game suspension. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
His ensuing suspension served, he returned to the scene of some of his great moments — the right-hander rose to prominence during his five seasons with the Tigers — and got jumped almost from the start.
“I just didn’t do a good job of locating,” Scherzer said. “I was kind of spraying the ball in the first [inning] and I didn’t pitch well out of the stretch. That is kind of symptomatic of when you have a long layoff, that is kind of one of the first things to go, pitching out of the stretch. I feel like that’s where some of the mistakes were where I got beat.”
But Scherzer, who threw 75 pitches, said he wasn’t concerned about the outcome as much as his physical state.
“For me the No. 1 thing is getting through this start back healthy, good, checkmark,” Scherzer said. “Now we can get going again and increase the pitch count and get back in the flow of things.”
Scherzer’s spin rates were down, especially with his curveball and cutter. According to Statcast, his four-seam fastball was down 107 revolutions per minute compared to his average this season. His curveball was down 218 rpms and his cutter 222 rpms. But Scherzer also noted that his velocity was down on this night as he worked to ensure the back discomfort that had bothered him before his previous start wouldn’t become an issue. Scherzer averaged 92.7 mph with his four-seam fastball. He normally averages 93.2 mph with that pitch.
“I am working back from this and trying to navigate through the lineup and not have [the back] go,” Scherzer said. “Hopefully I get back in sync with the mechanics and I can start getting through the ball better.”
Scherzer maintained when he was suspended he had used only rosin and sweat in aiding his grip of the baseball. But MLB is enforcing rules that were updated in spring training that consider even the excess use of rosin as a violation. Scherzer, who returned to using rosin, was checked as he left the field after the second inning. The pitcher called it a “normal” check by the umpire.
Eric Haase and Matt Vierling both homered against Scherzer, who allowed six earned runs on eight hits and one walk over 3 ¹/₃ innings. Haase, who hadn’t homered all season before Wednesday, crushed the Mets by delivering a go-ahead single for two runs off Ottavino in Game 1 after hitting a three-run blast against starter Joey Lucchesi.
The Mets will try to avoid what would be an embarrassing sweep when Justin Verlander takes the ball for his debut with the team on Thursday.
Ottavino was entrusted with an eighth-inning lead in Game 1 and got burned by a confluence of bad luck and one hittable pitch.
Scherzer’s spin rates were down as he tries to adjust after his sticky-stuff suspension. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
“I didn’t execute in the big moment there,” Ottavino said. “I have got to be better. I will be better.”
Jimmy Yacabonis pitched three perfect innings in relief, getting the ball to Ottavino with the Mets ahead 5-4. But Ottavino allowed a bloop single to Vierling and drilled Javier Baez with a pitch before missing with a fastball with runners on second and third that Haase smashed for the go-ahead hit. Ottavino’s blown save was the third by the Mets’ bullpen in 12 chances this season.
Vierling’s single that started the winning rally landed just in front of sliding Starling Marte, who was playing deep in right field.
Francisco Lindor is tagged out by Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez trying to stretch a hit into a double. AP
“I got a good jump on it — I thought I was running hard there,” Marte said through an interpreter. “But the ball was just too far and I couldn’t get there.”
Added manager Buck Showalter: “If [Marte] can’t catch it nobody will.”
Pete Alonso was one of many Mets bats that came up short on Wednesday. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Lucchesi lasted only four innings and allowed four earned runs on five hits with one strikeout. The performance was the left-hander’s worst in three starts since his recall from Triple-A Syracuse. Showalter indicated he removed Lucchesi after only 46 pitches to keep open the possibility he can be used Sunday, when the Mets are without a scheduled starting pitcher.
Source: New York Post
