Max Scherzer gives up four HRs as Mets have to settle for doubleheader split
Max Scherzer of the Mets goes back to the mound after giving up a home run during the first inning against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Saturday in Boston. Credit: Getty Images/Winslow Townson
BOSTON — Max Scherzer’s maddeningly middling season, much like the Mets’, oscillated back toward impending doom Saturday night.
In an 8-6 loss to the Red Sox, Scherzer gave up four home runs, matching the most in a game in his career. That turned what had been a happy day for the Mets, featuring a 5-4 afternoon win in the completion of their suspended Friday game, into a big bummer as they teeter on the brink of a season-defining sell-or-don’t-sell decision at the trade deadline.
The Mets (46-52) rallied for three runs in the ninth inning, managing to bring the potential tying run to the plate. But Daniel Vogelbach flied out against Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen to end it.
Scherzer, who was excellent in seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers last weekend, was bad this time: six innings, five runs, all on home runs. He gave up six hits — the four homers plus two harmless singles.
“That’s the bad. I get it. I own it. I’m not here to make excuses. I’ll answer for all those pitches,” said Scherzer, who highlighted his improved slider as “the good.”
“Baseball is funny. The game always finds a way to surprise you and punch you in the face.”
The first sign of trouble came from the first batter, Jarren Duran, who fouled off four of Scherzer’s pitches before ringing one off the Pesky Pole, the rightfield foul pole positioned only 302 feet from the plate.
Triston Casas added a solo shot over the bullpens in rightfield in the second for another run. Yu Chang, a light-hitting shortstop, blasted a fly ball over the Green Monster in left in the fifth, erasing what had become a Mets lead. And Casas crushed his second of the night, a two-run shot to straightaway centerfield in the sixth.
Combined, those balls traveled an estimated 1,569 feet. They came off Scherzer’s curveball, cutter, slider and fastball.
The ones that will eat at him, he said, were those from Casas, who became the first rookie to go deep twice off Scherzer in the same game. He tried to throw the pitches up and in; each ended up down and in.
“Right into his wheelhouse,” Scherzer said. “Both of Casas’ homers are on me. I gotta execute better. I gotta get to that up-and-in quadrant much better than I did today.”
Manager Buck Showalter said: “He’ll be the first to tell you there were some mistakes . . . It stands out because it’s not like him.”
Scherzer’s ERA is 4.20. He has allowed 22 home runs in 100 2⁄3 innings, more than one every five frames, on average.
“I thought I threw the ball pretty well outside of those homers,” he said. “It’s just one of those things. I’m in a funk right now where I’m homer- prone.”
The Mets scored three runs in lefthander James Paxton’s six innings. They all came on the same wacky play: Jeff McNeil’s two-out, two-run single to center in the fourth. McNeil advanced to second on Duran’s throw home, which was well late, and scored when catcher Jorge Alfaro launched a throw not only past second but past the centerfielder.
“That’s probably my first Little League home run since Little League,” McNeil said. “It was a fun moment. I wish we won the game.”
In the first game, which got paused because of rain in the bottom of the fourth Friday night, the Mets rode a practically perfect bullpen to victory. Grant Hartwig (six outs), David Peterson (two), Dominic Leone (three), Brooks Raley (three) and David Robertson (three) combined to allow one run in 5 2⁄3 innings.
“They all did a good job for us,” Showalter said. “It’s one thing to map out potentially what you’d like to do. It’s another thing if you can get the other team to cooperate . . . Pitchers did their job, which allowed us to stay in turn to where they’re best equipped to get outs.”
Hartwig, who has a 2.87 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 11 appearances, faced six batters and got six outs. Casas singled, the only one to reach base, but Hartwig picked him off first.
“Going in with the mindset of going for length, it definitely changes the approach a little bit more, trying to be more on attack, limit pitches, keep that pitch count low,” Hartwig said.
Showalter said of the rookie righthander: “We’ve always liked him. He’s made a contribution. You’re seeing little by little a guy who is starting to get a feel for what he can do.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
