Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — In his postgame interview after his electrifying debut in Dodger blue, pitcher Max Scherzer was still hyped on the experience. “When the crowd is going nuts like that, you can definitely feed off it … really get some adrenaline from that, so to go out there and pitch well … ” Scherzer said.
“The offense tonight went off,” Scherzer continued, appreciative of the seven runs of support he got on his maiden voyage as a Dodger. “They got early runs, gave me some breathing room, (that allowed me) to operate, to attack the hitters a little bit better.”
The 3-time Cy Young Award winner also said that he felt his curveball was the key to his success on Wednesday. “I think that was most I’ve ever thrown my curveball, and the best ever ever thrown it. To throw it for a strike, and then take it down below the zone. If I can pitch with the curveball, that kind of opens up everything else, makes every other pitch play up a little bit more.”
And how did he feel about the curtain call he was treated to after his outing? “That’s the first curtain call for me. I’ve never had that happen. That was a really cool moment, something I’ll never forget.” Actually, Scherzer said that it was teammate Clayton Kershaw who instigated the whole thing. “Kershaw said, ‘Hey, give them what they want,’” Scherzer said. “At that point, the crowd was going nuts, I wanted to go out there and tip my hat. I appreciate what they did, they brought an unbelievable energy tonight.”
The feeling was mutual, Max.
