Scherzer's 'longevity' and 'durability' carry him to new milestone

BALTIMORE -- Friday was another difficult night for the skidding Rangers, whose offensive and road issues surfaced again in a 2-1 loss to the Orioles. But it was a special night for Max Scherzer, who, even in defeat, moved into more rarefied air among the game’s all-time greats.

With his first strikeout of the night, Scherzer surpassed Greg Maddux to move into sole possession of 11th place on the all-time strikeouts list. He registered punchout No. 3,372 by whiffing Ramón Urías, his sixth batter of the game, on an 86 mph cutter in the second inning.

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Scherzer finished with four strikeouts in his second start of the season coming off back surgery, finishing the night with 3,375 career K’s. And he has a chance to keep climbing the list. Scherzer now sits only 18 strikeouts behind former teammate Justin Verlander for 10th place, and Verlander hasn’t pitched since June 9 due to injury.

“It kind of stinks in a loss,” Scherzer said. “I want to win. I came here to win today. I don’t pitch for milestones. I pitch to win. When we’re not able to win as a team, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. In the same breath, yeah. I look at it as a longevity, a durability thing. To get to that point, you have to be year in, year out, durable. I’ve always prided myself on that. The results are a process of that. It’s great to get that result. Great to get that milestone.”

The game’s signature strikeout artist for much of its most strikeout-heavy era, Scherzer reached Maddux’s total in an astonishing 2,163 2/3 fewer innings than the first-ballot Hall of Famer. For years now, Scherzer has been among baseball’s all-time leaders in strikeouts per nine innings, and the 39-year-old entered this year having registered at least more than a strikeout per innings in 18 of his 20 big leagues seasons.

The 3-time Cy Young Award winner has also led his respective league in strikeouts three times (2016-18), strikeouts per nine three times and strikeout-to-walk ratio in four different seasons.

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Scherzer suffered a hard-luck loss Friday in an otherwise-encouraging outing, throwing 77 pitches (53 for strikes) across 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. The pitch count was a big step from the 57 pitches he threw in his season debut Sunday against Kansas City, especially after Scherzer battled through a mid-turn thumb issue.

Scherzer’s stuff ticked up across the board Friday compared to his season debut, settling in right around his regular averages from 2023 in terms of velocity and spin on several of his pitches.

“I actually started feeling pretty good,” Scherzer said. “Finally, starting to get over this thumb issue … finally today, I felt my thumb was better. I still have some nerve stuff up in the shoulder, but that actually subsided and allowed me to get into some flow and allowed me to go back out there for the sixth. So, I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but physically, I am finally getting into a better spot.”

The Rangers have played most of this season without Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, All-Star third baseman Josh Jung and other key contributors due to injury as they’ve followed their 2023 World Series championship with a lackluster first half. They passed the official midway point of the season with Friday’s loss, their fifth straight and eighth consecutive on the road. The latest dropped Texas to seven games under .500 at 37-45. They were 16 games above .500 at this point last season.

“It’s tough going through something like this,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We saw good pitching. [The Orioles] did a good job. Still, we had guys out there. We just couldn’t get the hit.”

Asked if he thinks there is still time for the Rangers to right the ship and make a second-half run, Scherzer didn’t hesitate to say, "Of course we can.”

“We won the thing last year,” he said. “Everyone was talking crap on us last year, going into the playoffs, then we won the whole thing. This group is pretty even-keeled. We don’t get too high. Yeah, we’re in a low. We’re in a rut. I get it. But this can flip in a heartbeat. This is baseball. Anything can happen, especially if we start getting a little more healthy around here, we can get guys back and we can do great things. We can have a great second half.”