TORONTO — Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer moved into ninth place on the career strikeout list Sunday, passing Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.
A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer reached the mark by striking out Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh for the second out of the seventh inning, the 3,535th of his career.
The sellout crowd of 42,039 rose for a standing ovation when the record was displayed on the scoreboard.
“I respect who’s on this list,” Scherzer said. “To be moving up in the top 10 all-time means something. 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.”
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. His previous high was five.
Scherzer allowed one hit in a season-high seven innings to earn his first win since his season-opening start on March 31 against Colorado. He threw a season-high 97 pitches with 67 strikes.
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.
{{/usCountry}}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.
{{/usCountry}}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 was like vintage Max.”
Josh Naylor struck out looking in the second, and went down swinging with a runner at second base to end the fourth.
“It seemed like we were behind the heater and out in front of the breaking ball,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He just kept going back and forth and we weren't able to solve it.”
Earlier this month, Scherzer passed Hall of Famer Walter Johnson and into 10th place all-time by striking out former teammate Kyle Schwarber to begin the sixth inning of an Aug. 8 win at Philadelphia.
Former teammate Justin Verlander is eighth all-time. The injured Verlander is the only other active pitcher in the top 10.
Arizona’s first-round pick in the 2006 draft, Scherzer is an eight-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. He debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2008 and has also pitched for Detroit, Washington, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets, and Texas.
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