Scherzer K's Vlad and Vlad Jr. 10 years apart
Jessica Camerato
@jessicacameratoWASHINGTON -- It was as if Max Scherzer time traveled.
On July 21, 2010, Scherzer, then in his third Major League season, recorded his first two strikeouts of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero in a Tigers win over the Rangers.
Fast forward 10 years and eight days, and Scherzer was facing the same last name in the batter¡¯s box. Only in this game on Wednesday night at Nationals Park, it was Guerrero¡¯s son, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., at the plate for the Blue Jays.
¡°Man, I'm just getting old,¡± Scherzer said with a laugh after the Nationals¡¯ 4-0 win. ¡°I just had my birthday, I'm 36 now. I'm an old guy in the league now. It's official.¡±
The result of the pitching matchup didn¡¯t change. Scherzer picked up a strikeout against Guerrero, with the damage being done on an 87 mph called third strike in the fourth inning after Guerrero had flied out in his first at-bat against Scherzer.
¡°That's the great part of this game in facing the old generation and now the new generation,¡± Scherzer said. ¡°You want to be able to get the new generation out. The next generation's a great set of ballplayers here.¡±
The younger Guerrero was only 11 years old when Scherzer struck out his father that day in 2010. Growing up around the game, Toronto's Guerrero had spent plenty of time watching the Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner who surpassed 2,300 career innings on Wednesday.
¡°He's a great pitcher,¡± Guerrero said before the game. ¡°I've seen him on TV a lot. My mentality right now is just go up there and be aggressive. I just want to be aggressive, look for my pitch and take a hack, see what happens. But definitely, he's a great pitcher.¡±