BALTIMORE -- This just in: Max Scherzer is good at pitching.
The Washington Nationals ace steamrolled the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, allowing two hits while striking out 12 over eight shutout innings, to lead Washington to a 2-0 win and a road sweep. Scherzer's performance, in which he induced a season-high 29 swings-and-misses, was as dominant as any he has had all season. And that's saying something.
Entering Wednesday's series finale at Camden Yards, the two-time defending Cy Young winner was 8-1 with a 2.13 ERA. He ranked either first or second in the National League in wins, innings, strikeouts, WHIP, batting average against and hits per nine innings. His 2018 dossier already included a shutout against the Braves and a gem against the Phillies in which he fanned 15 batters in six-plus innings. But his beatdown of the O's on Wednesday was just as good if not better than either of those. For that, Scherzer has the Marlins and Dodgers to thank.
In his previous two outings, a road win against Miami and a no-decision at home against Los Angeles, the veteran hurler hadn't been happy with his heater.
"The past couple of starts, I hadn't felt great about being able to execute fastballs where I wanted to," he said.
While the four earned runs he yielded against the Dodgers and the eight baserunners he allowed against the Marlins (both season highs) wouldn't alarm most hurlers, Scherzer was spooked. So the notoriously meticulous righty went back to the drawing board and made a minuscule mechanical tweak.
"Changed my positioning of my hands," he explained after carving up the O's. "Took my hands a little bit lower and away from my face a little bit more, and I felt like that put me on line. I was really able to work the glove-side fastball tonight. I felt like that really allowed me to get strikes, and work ahead in the count."
It didn't hurt that Scherzer's gas had a little extra giddy-up.
Max Scherzer is off to a better start this season than in either of the two previous seasons, both of which he won the NL Cy Young in. pic.twitter.com/IewuEFHt7s
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 31, 2018
According to ESPN Stats & Information, the 33-year-old ace averaged 95.2 mph with his fastball against Baltimore, a season high and his best mark over the last two seasons. Between that and his mechanical tweak, the free-swinging Orioles, who entered the game with MLB's fourth-highest chase rate (29.8 percent) and fifth-highest swing rate (48.3 percent), didn't stand a chance.
Against Scherzer's cheese, the Birds posted a 29 percent swing-and-miss rate that was more than double the 13 percent he had posted against the Dodgers and Marlins combined. Of course, the fastball wasn't the only thing Mad Max had working on Wednesday.
"His slider was really, really sharp," manager Davey Martinez said.
How sharp? Of the 25 sliders that Scherzer spun, 20 of them went for strikes, including a season-high nine swings-and-misses.
For the game, Scherzer induced 29 swing-throughs on 111 pitches for a 26.1 percent rate. That's the third-highest clip of his 333 career appearances (regular and postseason) and his best mark since his record-setting 20-strikeout game against the Tigers in 2016. In other words, Scherzer brought his A-game on Wednesday. Unlike the B-game or C-game that he felt he had brought the past couple of times out.
"Oh, it's always a battle. Any pitcher can tell you that," said Scherzer, who worked through a consistent mist at Camden Yards to pick up his MLB-best ninth win, getting a little help from Bryce Harper (NL-best 18th home run), rookie Juan Soto (RBI single) and closer Sean Doolittle (13th save). "If hitting is the hardest thing to do in sports, I'd say pitching is the most complicated.
"It's one of those things you're always trying to tinker with. Everybody uses video and video can sometimes be a crutch. Sometimes you have to rely on your instincts and your feel, what you feel out there and know what type of adjustments you need to make in between starts. That's something over the years I really can dial into -- when I know things are right and things are wrong."
When things are right for Scherzer, like they often are and like they were on Wednesday, he's as filthy as any starter in the game.
"Whenever he goes out here that fifth day, he's always competitive and one of the best pitchers in baseball," Harper said. "Can't say enough about him. Slider, heater, changeup, everything worked tonight. Really special."