*Photo from USA Today*
Max Scherzer has had a pretty amazing career. On Sunday against the San Diego Padres, he added more milestones to his career. Scherzer carried a perfect game into the 8th inning, Justin Turner and Corey Seager homered, and the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Diego Padres 8-0 on Sunday afternoon.
Entering the game a few strikeouts short of 3,000 in his career, Scherzer struck out Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer in the 5th inning to reach strikeout number 3,000, fitting of a first rounder, chosen by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006. Justin Verlander is the only other active pitcher to reach 3,000 career strikeouts. Scherzer had a curtain call on the mound, but was quickly back in action.
Dodgers star Mookie Betts said "You kind of see when he got to one strikeout away, guys started swinging earlier because they didn’t want to be the 3,000th, which I don’t blame them. But he was destined toward it. All the work he puts in, who he is and everything he does. I expect nothing less from him."
What kicked off his stellar performance came in the second inning, when Scherzer tossed an immaculate inning, which is 9 pitches, 9 strikes, 3 strikeouts, in one inning. It was the 3rd time in his career Scherzer has thrown an immaculate inning, being just the 3rd pitcher in baseball history to throw 3 immaculate innings in his career, joining Sandy Koufax and Chris Sale.
Scherzer then made a strong run at a perfect game, one of the only things he hasn't yet accomplished in his hall of fame career. Ultimately, an 8th inning double by Wil Myers broke it up, but he still dominated on the mound. Myers was the only baserunner allowed, while Scherzer struck out 9 hitters in 8 innings, improving to a 14-4 record this season. Justin Bruihl finished it off with a perfect 9th inning.
Scherzer talked about reaching 3,000 strikeouts, saying that "It’s hard to describe the emotion of it. It’s an awesome achievement, an awesome milestone. Not too many people have reached this milestone, and it’s an awesome thing to accomplish. To me, this is a testament to durability, to making my 30-plus starts year in and year out. Everybody can have the ability to do this, but few have the durability to do this. All the hard work I’ve put in to be able to have this moment, that’s what feels good."
The Dodgers offense didn't start supporting Scherzer until the 4th inning, when Seager hit a solo home run, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead to start it off. One inning later, Betts unleashed a solo home run to center field, making it 2-0. In the 7th, an RBI double from Max Muncy, and a 3 run blast to center field by Turner made the Dodgers lead 6-0. In the 8th, Betts was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Muncy hit a sac fly to make it 8-0 late in the game.
Dinelson Lamet got the loss for the Padres, throwing 2/3 of an inning in relief, allowing the homer to Seager. Starter Blake Snell had to leave 11 pitches into his outing due to injury, which turned this into an unexpected bullpen game. Nabill Crismatt threw the most innings, throwing 2 1/3 shutout innings right after Snell left. Pierce Johnson, Ryan Weathers, Emilio Pagan, and Austin Adams also pitched.
Padres manager Jayce Tingler said of the loss that "We definitely need to play better. But we’ve got the guys to do it. We’ve said that all along. The belief is still there. And with 19 1/2 games to go(suspended game), we’ve got to go out and take it. There’s not much more to say, except we’ve got to play better. It’s probably been our low point. But we’ve got a chance to turn that around. Nothing’s going to matter about this pocket if we can go out and play well these next three weeks."
The Dodgers welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks to town tonight, with Clayton Kershaw making his first start in two months as he comes off the IL. The Padres travel north to face the San Francisco Giants, with Yu Darvish taking the mound.
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