41-year-old Max Scherzer shouted at his manager for coming out to check on him, a breakdown
What Happened
In a tightly contested game, 41-year-old veteran pitcher Max Scherzer of the New York Mets takes the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning with one runner on base and one out. The Mets hold a slim lead, and Scherzer is tasked with navigating through a tough part of the opposing lineup, including the dangerous Randy Arozarena of the Tampa Bay Rays. Scherzer gets to a full count against the left-handed batter, but the ball is hit hard and caught for the second out. Mets manager Buck Showalter decides to go out to the mound and check on Scherzer, who is visibly surprised by the visit. "Are you good?" Showalter asks. "Yeah, I'm good. Yeah, let's go," Scherzer responds, never breaking eye contact with his manager. He then sternly tells Showalter, "Get off my mound. I've got work to do." Showalter obliges and returns to the dugout, and up steps the dangerous Arozarena. Scherzer has worked him effectively earlier in the game, getting him to swing and miss on a fastball and then inducing a groundout on a slider. This time, Scherzer mixes his pitches, opening Arozarena up with a fastball before freezing him with a perfectly-placed slider for strike two. Sensing he has Arozarena off balance, Scherzer then changes the sequence, blowing a fastball by him for the strikeout. As Scherzer walks off the mound, he again confronts Showalter, yelling at him and refusing to hand over the ball. Scherzer's teammates, including George Springer and Eloy Jimenez, enthusiastically support their veteran ace, understanding his competitive fire. Showalter relents, sending Scherzer back out to the mound for the bottom of the sixth inning. Scherzer continues to mix his pitches effectively, striking out the first two batters he faces. However, he walks the next batter, prompting Showalter to finally make the pitching change. Despite the walk, Scherzer's outing is a strong one, keeping the Mets in the game against a tough division rival. The Mets' dugout and the crowd in Seattle, which includes many Mets fans, show their appreciation for Scherzer's gutsy performance.
Full Transcript
Everyone's favorite psycho was on the mound last night. Mad Max Scherzer. This breakdown is brought to you by DraftKings. It is bottom of the fifth inning. There's one runner on. There's one out. He's got a lefty up that he's got to pitch to with a nice green tape job on the bat handle. And then he's got Randy, the greatest ever, a Rosarena on deck. That's the situation. First pitch, he goes fast ball to the lefty. Then he's going to work the change up. Gets it for a strike. Looking. That one falls below the zone. Now the 2-1 is a fast ball on the outside. 3-1. Another fast ball. It's hit pretty hard. He fell behind in the count. The catch is made. There's two outs. But manager probably saw that and was like, "Ah, maybe it's time. Let me go check on him." Sherzer gets surprised. Whoa, hold on. Not what I want to be seeing. My manager coming. Manager like, "Are you good?" He says, "Yeah, I'm good. Yeah, let's go." And then stares at him. Never breaks eye contact. Just stares at him with his different colored eyes and says, "Get off my mound. I've got work to do." Schneider says, "All right, cool. All good with me. Go get him." Randy Rosarena is up and before I show you this at bat, Schneider looking on thinking, "Okay, here we go. Is this okay?" Before I show you this at bat, I think it's important to know the previous at bats. He opened him up with a fast ball, got him swinging for a strike, and then with one strike went to the breaking ball and got a ground out. That was the first at bat. The next atbat, he opens him up...