After Scherzer moves up all-time K's list, Rangers complete 4-game sweep

ARLINGTON -- Max Scherzer was asked on a podcast two weeks ago if he would consider waiving his no-trade clause if the Rangers happened to be in an unfavorable position come July 30.

Scherzer, at the time, was adamant that he didn’t even need to think about that, despite the Rangers' place in the standings.

“We're gonna play better baseball,” Scherzer said at the time. “It's gonna be a moot point to even talk about. We're gonna win here."

It seems that Scherzer was prophetic. The Rangers are playing better. Much better.

Scherzer tossed six innings of one-run ball on Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Field, carrying the Rangers to a 2-1 win over the White Sox to bring their win streak to a season-high-tying five games. It was the first time Texas has swept a four-game series at Globe Life Field (since 2020), and the first time at home since April 2017 against the Royals at the old Globe Life Park.

“He was absolutely dominant today,” said catcher Andrew Knizner. “All his stuff was working. Slider was sharp, heater was coming out hot, mixing all of his pitches, and hitting his spots.

"It was just a classic game from Scherzer. Honestly, I think it was getting better as the game went on, which is a good sign especially for him. He set the tone early, and we rode that momentum all the way through.”

After battling arm fatigue in his first start out of the All-Star break last week against the Orioles, he seemed fresher than ever against Chicago. Scherzer struck out three batters over the first two innings, and nine overall to sit in sole possession of 10th place on MLB's all-time strikeouts list with 3,400. He broke a tie with former teammate Justin Verlander, who is currently on the injured list for the Astros.

Scherzer isn’t one for analyzing individual accomplishments, but he admitted that he did enjoy this one.

“It's fun, especially when we win,” he said. “ When you win, it's a little bit easier to celebrate this and have fun with the guys. When you're talking about a milestone like this, it’s all about durability.

"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, be durable and be able to make my posts, and go out there and compete year in and year out and continue to get better every single season.

“For me, it's a mindset. Milestones aren't a goal for me. I'm more focused on the process. I'm more focused on my stuff. These things happen as a result of it. So like I said, it will be fun to enjoy because we won today.”

The milestone was big, but for Scherzer, winning is the priority right now. He wants to contribute to Rangers wins, end of story.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy said he was never really worried about Scherzer after the brief bout of arm fatigue. He knew he could bounce back. In the bullpen before the game, Knizner knew the sure-fire Hall of Famer would be rolling.

Scherzer did all that and more.

“My mindset has always been to go out there and be aggressive and attack and find ways to pitch around lineups and be in the strike zone,” Scherzer said. “You get to this point, it just makes you want to continue pitching and keep pitching well. This is all about the World Series.

"That's what motivates me. My motivation is to win the World Series. That's really kind of the only goal I have, and really the only thing I play for. When that's my mindset, I feel like everything else falls into place.”

Texas is now one game below .500 for the first time since June 2 after a win in Miami (29-30) and owns an MLB-best 13-6 (.684) record in July. The Trade Deadline is five days away and a three-way race atop the AL West with the Astros and Mariners is full speed ahead.

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“We're starting to play our best baseball now,” Scherzer said. “We're going to start getting more and more healthy and get more arms and our bats back. That's going to be kind of like our Trade Deadline acquisitions.

"We're getting really good players back from injury. ... We're in the race. We're in a tight race right now. We got to play our best baseball now, and that's what's going on. There's good things in front of us.”