Max Scherzer’s undefeated streak has come with instances of good fortune. Sunday night was one of those.
This wasn’t the three-time Cy Young Award winner at his best, and he freely admitted it.
“As awesome as it is, I could very easily have lost tonight, but I didn’t. My teammates picked me up,” Scherzer said, after notching his 15th consecutive regular-season victory and his 18th straight start in which his team has won with him on the mound.
The long ball bedeviled Scherzer — he allowed three homers in a game for the first time since last April — but he didn’t give up much else in the Mets’ 10-6 victory in front of 30,608 at Citi Field. Over six innings, Scherzer allowed four runs while fanning nine and giving up five hits.
Scherzer started red-hot, striking out the first five Phillies he faced. A magic night seemed possible. But then Kyle Schwarber turned around a high 1-1 fastball, the first of the Mets killer’s two homers.
In the fourth, Schwarber got Scherzer again, going down to one knee to reach a 2-2 changeup and somehow lofting over the right-center field fence. It was his 12th homer against the Mets dating back to last season, continuing his personal destruction of them.
“I thought I made a good pitch there, 2-2, but he made a great swing,” Scherzer said. “Sometimes you can get beat and I got beat. I know he’s a great hitter and he can do that. That happens in Major League Baseball. They’re good, too.”
But after each Schwarber homer, the Mets rallied, enabling Scherzer to either pitch from ahead or in a tie game. He didn’t mess around. He walked just one, after giving out eight free passes in his first four starts, and of the three homers, two were solo shots.
While he wasn’t at his sharpest, Scherzer still seemed in control most of the night. The Phillies had multiple base runners in an inning just twice, although his ERA did rise to a still very strong 2.61.
The most important stat for Scherzer and the Mets, however, is in the win column. They have won all five of his starts, with the ace going at least six innings four times. He has earned a victory in four of them. And his latest performance enabled them to win the series over the rival Phillies, extending a franchise record by winning their first seven series of the season.
“Awesome, that’s what it’s about,” Scherzer said. “Coming in here and having your ballclub win. It’s not about me, it’s not about my stats or anything like that. That’s why tonight’s a great night — everybody had a hand in it and everybody was doing their jobs and the offense really did their jobs tonight.”