Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Blue Jays Shut Down By Scherzer, Fall Out of Playoff Spot
A decade ago, it would've been a must-see matchup: Mad Max Scherzer against smooth Hyin-Jin Ryu.
The former hucking 99 MPH heaters and the latter painting changeups on the corner. With both former Cy Young candidates pushing deep into their 30s and finding new ways to carve, it was Scherzer who found his highest form on Tuesday — and that was bad news for the Blue Jays.
Scherzer carved Toronto's bats for 5.1 innings, earning a second-straight Texas win and pushing the Jays out of a playoff spot with a Mariners win on Tuesday.
As Cavan Biggio's fly ball left his bat in the fourth, Scherzer was already walking off the mound. As the deep fly found glove, the 16-year MLB veteran stranded his third hit of the evening, carving through the Toronto lineup for just one of his five-plus shutout frames.
Scherzer's no stranger to big games. The righty has pitched in 27 playoff games, two World Series, and plenty of meaningful September series. But, as far as 2023 goes, his Tuesday outing was the biggest of his year. The Rangers and Jays have been dancing for the American League's final playoff spot for the last few weeks, and the four-game set in Toronto this week was a chance for either side to steal an edge.
So, as he has plenty of other times in his career, Scherzer stepped up. "We try to tell guys, you're not facing the name. You're facing the stuff," manager John Schneider said before the game. Sure, Scherzer's stuff was diminished. But, it was still effective against Toronto's slashing bats.
"We missed some pitches to hit really," Schneider said. "But yeah, he's good and he adjusted kind of like we thought."
The Jays caught some hope in the sixth when Scherzer winced after his 73rd pitch of the contest, a curveball dotted in for a strike. After a lengthy talk with Texas' team trainer and an attempted throw off the mound, Scherzer, later diagnosed with triceps spasms, handed the ball to manager Bruce Bochy and gave the Jays a shot against the Rangers' bullpen.
Texas' relievers have been among the worst in baseball over the last month and rank fifth-worst in MLB on the season. As expected, things changed with Scherzer out of the game, but not by enough.
The Jays began to chip away, tacking on two runs with a smashed Spencer Horwitz double and a smooth Santiago Espinal slide into second. But, the Texas starter's dominance and some added Ranger runs put Toronto in an unscaleable hole. The Rangers leaky 'pen was able to cling on to a five-run lead and get the game from Scherzer to the ninth inning.
Even as Rangers closer Aroldis Chapman gave Toronto a few more runs and a little extra hope in the ninth, the result stayed sealed. As Espinal flew out deep to left to end it, the Jays racked up their second-straight loss to start the biggest series of their season.
The loss busted any chance of Toronto earning a playoff tiebreak edge over Texas, pushed the Jays out of a playoff spot for now, and made the final two games of the series two crucial contests for the Blue Jays.
"You got to try to get out of here with the split," Schneider said. "I said it yesterday, you take it one game at a time knowing that it's a really important series."
