Max the Magnificent: Scherzer notches 3,000th K, flirts with perfection

LOS ANGELES — Sometimes, you just run out of superlatives. Max Scherzer had baseball writers hitting their thesauruses hot and heavy on Sunday afternoon. Not only did he pitch eight innings of shut-out ball. Not only did he pitch an immaculate inning in the second. Not only did he get his 3,000th career strikeout. But, just for kicks Max Scherzer decided that he would record twenty-two consecutive outs, taking a perfect game into the eighth inning.

Simply, put it was one of the most dominant Scherzer performances of his career, and darn near became his third no hitter. And the offense came alive, too, rocking the Padres’ bullpen for eight runs on the afternoon. The Dodgers’ 8-0 victory completed the sweep of the Padres and kept the Dodgers within 2 1/2 games of San Francisco in the NL West. So, all in all, a pretty good day.

Scherzer’s immaculate inning puts him in rare company

It was one of those days where everybody was so focused on one piece of history, we barely notice another historic milestone right under our noses. But en route to that 3,000th K, Scherzer struck out the side in the top of the second on just nine pitches, a so-called “immaculate inning”. And these were not chumps he struck out, either. Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer, and Tommy Pham all went down on three pitches. It was the third time in Scherzer’s career that he’d accomplished the feat, tying him with Chris Sale and Dodger legend Sandy Koufax with the most all time.

Seager and Betts start the scoring with home runs

The game had been advertised as a potential pitchers’ duel with the Padres’ Blake Snell, but it didn’t come to pass. Eleven pitches into the game, Snell motioned to the dugout after a pitch and pulled himself from the game with what looked like a groin injury. A prolonged stay on the IL this close to the playoffs could radically alter the Padres pitching choices if they make it to the Wild Card game.

After the immaculate inning, Scherzer was stuck at 2,999 K’s for a while. In the meantime, the Dodgers needed to get on the board. In this game, it was Corey Seager who did the honors. First pitch hitting as usual, Seager took reliever Dinelson Lamet deep to left centerfield for a solo home run in the fourth inning and the Dodgers were on the board. In the very next inning, Mookie Betts hit his second home run in as many days, put the Dodgers up 2-0. With Scherzer on the mound, it seemed like the Dodgers had more than enough runs for the win.

Mr. 3,000

After numerous tantalizing two-strike counts, Scherzer finally got number 3,000 in the top of the fifth. He got Eric Hosmer into a 0-2 hole, and then tried to coax a chase out of the veteran first baseman, but he wouldn’t bite on three successive pitches. Scherzer decided to go back into the zone, and got a whiff on a nasty change-up. It was strikeout number 3,000 in the illustrious career of the Dodgers’ ace. After the K, he tipped his cap to the crowd as 40,000 rose as one to applaud on his accomplishment. With his family in the stands, Scherzer acknowledged the cheers, and then went right back to work, getting a quick flyout to end the inning.

Dodgers explode in the seventh

With Scherzer still perfect, the Dodgers put up a crooked number in the bottom of the seventh. Gavin Lux, who had another good game at the plate, started the inning with a single and advanced to second on a Scherzer sac bunt. Then, Mother Nature got involved. The sun was particularly nasty on Sunday afternoon, and there were times when it looked like the Scherzer perfecto might be jeopardized by an outfield error. However, it was San Diego that finally fell victim to the sun. Back to the top of the order, Mookie Betts got an oopsie single when Wil Myers lost a flyball in the high sky

Max Muncy jumped on a pitch from Emilio Pagan and ripped a run-scoring double into the right field corner. Then, after a Trea Turner groundout, Justin Turner put the cherry on top of the inning with a three-run homer to left center field. It broke an 0-for-13 slump for Turner, and finally someone not named Betts or Lux was contributing to the offense this weekend. The three-run shot made it 6-0 and the Dodgers were cruising.

Darn you, Eric Hosmer!

Scherzer went into the eighth with his perfect game still intact. He got an out from Fernando Tatis on a fly to Mookie Betts in right, but that would be the end of the run for Scherzer. The next hitter, Eric Hosmer, got a low change-up on a 2-1 count as was able to reach down and poke it down the right field line for a double. Aww. Perfecto gone. No-no gone. It was a nice piece of hitting, and you just had to tip your hat in Hosmer’s direction.

All about Max

With the outcome of the game no longer in doubt, Scherzer’s day was over at the end of the inning. He came out to numerous hugs and backslaps from the Dodgers bench, and was finally able to enjoy his historic day. The Dodgers got a couple more garbage runs in the eighth, and then Justin Bruihl finished things up in the ninth.

It was nice to see the Dodgers’ offense wake up late in the game, but today was Max Scherzer’s day. With the win and eight shutout innings, Scherzer improves his record with the Dodgers to 6-0, and his LA ERA is a microscopic 0.88. He has been nothing short of incredible. I think if there was a question who would start a potential Wild Card game next month, that has been pretty definitively answered. In Max we trust.