TORONTO — The Rangers did a million little things right, but Max ScherzerThe premature exit from the Union was significant enough to cast a shadow.
After 5 1/3 scoreless innings at the Rogers Center, Scherzer left the Rangers field. 6-3 victory against the Blue Jays with a spasm of the right triceps. The victory moved Texas half match to come Toronto and Seattle for second place in the American League Wild Card race, and the Rangers also secured the series tiebreaker with the Blue Jays.
Yet the main focus was on the Rangers ace’s exit and injury. The club had no immediate prognosis, but Scherzer was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
“(We) want to make sure (we) don’t put him in danger,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We didn’t want him to get away with it. He said, “I’ll try to get through this,” and we said, “No.” We weren’t going to take any chances there.
There was no real reason to take risks at this point.
With the Rangers up three runs, Scherzer headed into the sixth inning and felt some tightness in his right shoulder and upper arm. He had a seven-pitch standoff with George Springer, eventually allowing the Blue Jays’ lead man to ground out for the first out of the frame.
But after throwing a curveball for a called strike against Bo Bichette, a grimacing Scherzer watched catcher Jonah Heim walk to the mound, followed by Bochy, pitching coach Mike Maddux and a team trainer .
“It was like a charley horse, that’s the best (description),” Scherzer said. “I was hoping that…I’ve had a cramping feeling like that before, and you kind of get through it, and you kind of go away. But when I got to the mound and I was doing my move, I could just tell he didn’t come loose.
Scherzer chatted with the group and attempted a few warm-up throws, but Bochy’s mind was already made up by then. Scherzer, who suffered from forearm soreness in his last two starts, finished his night with 73 pitches, giving up three hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
The triceps issue is different from the right forearm tightness Scherzer felt recently, but the right-hander posited there might be a connection, since tension and stress tend to travel through the joints and related muscles.
“It’s probably related, because it’s the kinetic chain,” Scherzer said. “That’s what I have in mind. Because I had a tight forearm, (my) triceps are under more stress, and all of a sudden, you know, I can’t handle it anymore.
Before the injury, this had all the elements of a vintage Scherzer outing – a nice bounce-back after allowing seven earned runs in three innings in his previous start.
“It’s a shame, because he had really good material,” Bochy said. “He was in top form. Good command, all four lands worked for him.
The Rangers did much more than that.
The Bats continued their resurgence, led by Robbie Grossman’s two-run homer and Corey Seager’s 1,000th career hit (he later added numbers 1,001 and 1,002 with a pair of doubles).
Meanwhile, Texas’ bullpen, a noted pressure point of late, got the job done. With the exception of a bumpy bottom of the seventh in which José Leclerc and Brock Burke gave up two runs, the Rangers’ relievers held the Blue Jays in check, thanks in large part to Chris Stratton’s 1 1/3 aim.
“Other than that injury, great win for the team,” Scherzer said. “This is what we needed. We needed a great team victory and we got it, especially considering our position in the standings.
All the more reason to be careful with this triceps problem.
The Rangers have now secured the tiebreaker against the Blue Jays by winning the season series against the club. But with Jordan Montgomery and Jon Gray’s recent struggles — as well as Nathan Eovaldi’s slow recovery from a right forearm strain — Texas can’t afford to be without Scherzer for a while.
For now, though, the Rangers will just worry about trying to make it five wins in a row on Wednesday.
“We are not stupid. That’s a good team there,” Scherzer said. “So to come out here and get a win tonight is huge.”
