You’d prefer a win. No doubt about it, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you’d look at a 1-0 loss and gnash your teeth. The hundredth, you’d gnash a little, then grit them, then take a deep breath, then rub your eyes, then take in the image at the center of the bigger picture.
Max Scherzer [1] went six innings in his return from an oblique injury Tuesday night, expertly mixed fastballs and sliders, gave up two singles, walked nobody, hit one batter and struck out eleven.
That’s an image that will carry you past a 1-0 loss [2] in Cincinnati. That’s an image that will eclipse your disgust at the Mets managing fewer runs off five Red pitchers than the Reds did off Scherzer, Joely Rodriguez, Tommy Hunter and, ultimately, Seth Lugo, the only hurler on either side who clearly didn’t succeed. Lugo, who gave up the game’s lone run in the bottom of the ninth, was not alone among Mets contributing to your dentist’s askance glances come your next checkup. Starling Marte was an on-base machine (two hits, two walks) and Mark Canha went two-for-four, but nobody else in the lineup did anything terribly useful, which is definitely a drag. Gnash away if that’s where your emotions take your teeth.
Yet Max Scherzer did everything he could after being missing from action for nearly seven weeks. I guess he could’ve gone longer than six innings — so did Max, judging from his expression in the dugout after he was told he was done — but he’d been out too long to take too many chances. Now he’s as back as we could have hoped for. He looked great, he says he feels great and we have him for the second half that begins tonight.
On May 18, the night Max matter-of-factly announced no mas, the Mets elevated their record to 25-14. At the halfway point of the season it’s 50-31, indicating the club held its own in the Scherzerless interregnum. They won 25 games with Max, 25 games without him. They went 16-10 when the three established mostly healthy starters — Taijuan Walker, Carlos Carrasco and Chris Bassitt — took the ball and held the fort. They didn’t play the Braves at all. By next week, when they visit Cobb County, the Mets will have the opportunity to fend off their closest rivals with a much-bolstered rotation. Scherzer is not on track to pitch in that series, but he will pitch twice before the All-Star break. And he’ll pitch after it. Every start Max Scherzer makes is one an inevitably lesser pitcher doesn’t. The effect can’t help but elevate the entire staff and the entire team. Bulletins regarding the co-ace’s progress on the IL and plans for his rehab are no longer in the news. Ruminations on the ups and downs of identifying as a Rumble Pony will emanate from somebody else. When you see Scherzer’s name, it will be because he’s pitching for the Mets.
Did we mention Max is back? That’s the news. The very good news. More to come.