ARLINGTON, Texas — Max Scherzer always has the mindset to be aggressive on the mound, attack hitters and find ways to pitch around lineups while being in the strike zone.
Along the way over 17 big league seasons, the three-time Cy Young Award winner has piled up a lot of strikeouts. The Texas Rangers right-hander now has more than any other active pitcher.
Scherzer moved into 10th place on the career strikeout list with 3,400 after passing former teammate and fellow three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander while fanning a season-high nine in the Rangers’ 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
“When you’re talking about a milestone like this … this is all about durability. This is about being year-in, year-out healthy,” Scherzer said. “I know I’ve been shaking some injuries here as of late, but over the course of my career, I’ve been able to be healthy and be durable and be able to make my posts and go out there and compete just year-in, year-out, and continue to get better every single season.”
Two days before his 40th birthday and five days after an outing limited to two innings because of arm fatigue, Scherzer (2-3) threw 62 of 85 pitches for strikes. He allowed one run and walked one while pitching three-hit ball over six innings. It was only his seventh start since offseason back surgery.
“Incredible career he’s had, and reached quite a milestone. Amazing, now he’s in the top 10 in strikeouts,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.
“A huge bounce-back game for Scherzer. I mean absolutely dominant,” catcher Andrew Knizner said. “All his stuff was working. Slider was sharp, heater was coming out hot, mixing all of his pitches, hitting spots. … Just a classic game from Scherzer. And honestly, I think he was getting better as the game went.”
It was his 464th career game and 455th start, second only to Verlander’s 519. Scherzer’s 216 wins are second on the active list to the 260 by the 41-year-old Verlander, who hasn’t pitched for Houston since June 9 because of neck stiffness that caused him to go on the injured list.
Scherzer has also played for Arizona, Detroit, Washington, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Mets. He was part of World Series titles with Washington in 2019 and the Rangers last season after being a trade deadline acquisition from New York.
“For me, this is all about the World Series. That’s what motivates me,” Scherzer said. “My motivation is to win the World Series. And so that’s really kind of the only goal I have, and really the only thing I play for. … When that’s my mindset, you know, I feel like everything else falls into place.”
Verlander and Scherzer were teammates with the Tigers from 2010-14, a span when both won baseball’s top pitching award. Scherzer was the Cy Young winner in 2013, and then again in 2016 and 2017 with the Nationals. Verlander won that award in 2011, and in 2019 and 2022 with the Astros.
Scherzer passed Verlander with his third strikeout against Chicago, and 3,394th of his career, when Eloy Jiménez took a 93.3 mph fastball for a called third strike in the second inning. Scherzer had matched his former teammate with his second strikeout, when Andrew Vaughn swung and missed an 83.8 mph slider for the final out of the first.
“Ver’s a great pitcher and we’re going to continue going head-to-head over this for a while,” Scherzer said. “We’re going to be ping-ponging over this.”
Scherzer had exited last Saturday’s start against Baltimore, his first after the All-Star break, after two innings and 53 pitches.
Knizner said he knew in the pregame bullpen warmup that it was going to be a good outing Thursday. Scherzer agreed with the catcher that he was throwing his best pitches later in the game.
“That’s a good sign,” Scherzer said. “That’s kind of a midseason form you’re kind of looking for.”
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