TORONTO — Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer moved into ninth place on the career strikeout list Sunday, passing Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.
It’s great to do it here at home and have the fans really get into as well. That’s a special moment. Very thankful for my teammates and the fans, and their support. His previous high was five.
“To be moving up in the top 10 all-time means something. It was Scherzer’s season-high 10th strikeout of the game, the first time this season and 115th time in his career that he has fanned 10 or more.
“I respect who’s on this list,” Scherzer said.
“It was like vintage Max. “He just kept going back and forth and we weren’t able to solve it. See ’s full MLB coverage here
It was just the third time in MLB history that a pitcher aged 42 or older threw seven or more innings, struck out 10 or more and allowed two or fewer baserunners. Nolan Ryan did it twice, most recently on May 1, 1991 against Toronto, his seventh and final no-hitter. Scherzer, 42, struck out the side in the first inning Sunday, getting all three of Randy Arozarena, Dominic Canzone and Julio Rodríguez swinging.
“He was dialed from the very beginning and located everything really well, used his pitches really well,” manager John Schneider said. “It seemed like we were behind the heater and out in front of the breaking ball,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
