Max Scherzer's Unbeaten Streak Snapped in Mets' Game 1 Doubleheader Loss
PHILADELPHIA -- Max Scherzer's impressive streak has finally come to an end.
The Mets suffered a 3-2 loss in Game 1 of a doubleheader with the Phillies on Mother's Day. And Scherzer, who went 4-0 across his first five outings as a Met, was handed his first loss in a regular season game in 24 straight starts dating back to May 30, 2021.
"Heck of a run," Scherzer said of his streak. "Obviously it takes your teammates to be able to do that; I'll always say that. But It's also cool to be a part of it.
"You have to go out there and give your team a chance to win. That's your job as a starting pitcher. I feel like I've been doing that over my last handful of starts here and they've been picking me up. It's more of a team stat, but It's good to be a part of it."
Scherzer's stellar streak came while pitching for the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Mets across this season and last.
Facing the Phillies for the third time this year, and for the second consecutive start, the 37-year-old allowed a season-high 10 hits, giving up three runs in the process.
Scherzer had his latest start pushed back a total of two days due to back-to-back postponements on Friday and Saturday as a result of the rain. So the righty went one full week in between starts, and struggled with his command on a cold and windy afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
But he refused to make any excuses, despite the poor weather conditions.
"I just will not make an excuse for anything," Scherzer said. "My job is to go out there and compete and win under any circumstances, any conditions."
"Today was just a grind; trying to navigate their lineup again," Scherzer said. "I know I made a mistake to Harp', but I was executing pitches. It's part of baseball for them to get some singles to get in, (albeit) it just felt like they got a lot of singles to fall in, but that's just part of the game."
On a day, in which Scherzer didn't have his best stuff, and the weather conditions were less than ideal, he was still able to give the Mets six innings, seven strikeouts and three earned runs. And beyond the home run he allowed to his former teammate Bryce Harper in the bottom of the first inning, the majority of the Phillies' offense came via soft contact.
"He couldn't grip the baseballs," manager Buck Showalter said of Scherzer. "Evidence by the number of sliders that he couldn't get on. Balls were slick, you could tell (Kyle) Gibson had the same (issue).
"That was good. For Max to work his way through six, I think they had two hard hit balls off of him the whole day."
But the Mets' offense was unable to provide Scherzer with much run support in this contest. Opposing starter Kyle Gibson went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits.
New York scored both runs off Gibson in his final inning of work, but stranded the tying run on second base after Francisco Lindor's RBI double.
Phillies relievers Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado struggled to find the strike zone in the seventh and eighth, but recovered to hold onto a one-run lead, before Corey Knebel, who was at the forefront of Thursday night's meltdown, got his redemption against the Mets in the ninth.
Scherzer is 4-1 with a 2.92 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 49 strikeouts across 37 innings in his first six starts as a Met. The Mets are 19-10 on the season and will aim for the split in the second game of a twin bill with the Phillies on Sunday.
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