TORONTO -- Max Scherzer climbed another rung of the all-time Major League Baseball strikeouts ladder in the Blue Jays’ 7-0 win over the Mariners on Sunday.
With his seventh-inning punch out of Cal Raleigh, his 10th of the game, Scherzer surpassed Gaylord Perry for ninth all-time with 3,535 strikeouts.
When it was announced to the Rogers Centre crowd, fans erupted in appreciation for the history they were witnessing. In typical Scherzer fashion, he saluted the crowd before getting back to work.
It was the 115th time in Scherzer’s illustrious career that he had struck out at least 10 batters in a game. He is third in that category, behind only Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (212) since the mound moved to its current distance in 1893.
At 42 years and 34 days old, Scherzer is also the oldest pitcher with 10+ strikeouts and one or no hits allowed in a game since Ryan on May 1, 1991, (44 years, 90 days) in a no-hitter against none other than the Blue Jays.
Scherzer and Ryan (six times) are the only pitchers with such an outing at age 42+ in MLB history.
After Josh Naylor grounded out to second base to end the seventh, Scherzer walked off the mound with a 4-0 lead and a standing ovation from the Jays faithful. Scherzer threw 67 of his 97 pitches for strikes, with one walk and Raleigh's fourth-inning double the only baserunners he allowed over seven innings of work.
The moment wasn’t lost on Scherzer postgame.
“I respect who’s on this list,” Scherzer said. “To be moving up the top 10 all-time means something. It’s great to do it here at home and have the fans be able to get into it as well. It’s a special moment. I’m very thankful to my teammates, the fans and their support.”
Catcher Alejandro Kirk kick started Toronto’s offense in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run over the wall in left-center field after Scherzer struck out the side in the top half.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-run double added to the Blue Jays’ lead in the fifth, and Kazuma Okamoto hit his team-leading 28th home run of the season in the sixth to make it 4-0. Toronto tacked on three more runs in the eighth to put the game away.
But this day was all about the man they call “Mad Max,” and the vintage performance he delivered.
As happy as Scherzer was with his start, he remained focused on what’s ahead for the Blue Jays.
“This is what you play for, this is what’s fun,” Scherzer said of Toronto’s playoff push. “When you’re in the hunt, you have to win. The pressure is on. You have to go out there and do something about it. I love these moments. We’re in a fight and we have to fight all the way until the end.”
It’s the kind of intensity and mindset Scherzer has become known for over his career. Just ask Kirk.
While his starter wouldn’t admit it, Kirk knew after the first inning that Scherzer’s confidence and stuff was there to have the type of outing he did.
“We execute the plan that we have,” Kirk said through team interpreter Tito Lebrón. “We all know the kind of player Max is and I make sure to bring my A-game. To try to be on the same page the whole game, it’s something me and him are working on every day.”
As they say, age is just a number, and Scherzer still believes he can compete when healthy. A day like today proves that that’s the case.
“I won’t be playing at 42,” Kirk said with a laugh. “What he’s doing, his career is very, very impressive.”
As he’s done so many times, Scherzer stepped up when his team needed him the most. On an afternoon when it would’ve been easy to be satisfied with a series win, he pushed for more.
The victory was the Blue Jays' first on a Sunday since June 7 in a win over the Orioles, snapping a 10-game losing streak in weekend finales. Toronto’s sweep was also its first of the month, despite having four previous opportunities to do so against the Cardinals, Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees.
Manager John Schneider said watching Scherzer was like “hopping in a time machine.”
“A pretty remarkable performance here in a vacuum with the 10 strikeouts, one hit and then getting into ninth place all-time in strikeouts is pretty cool to see,” Schneider said. “He was dialed [in] from the very beginning. It was vintage Max.”