CINCINNATI — Nearly seven weeks removed from his most recent major-league game, having endured a grueling rehabilitation of the most serious in-season injury of his career, Max Scherzer returned Tuesday night looking about the same as ever: utterly excellent.
Scherzer tossed six shutout innings, struck out 11 and threw only 79 pitches against the Reds.
His dominance — and mere presence, for that matter — meant a lot for the Mets moving forward. They have one of their aces healthy again, with the other, Jacob deGrom, expected back by the end of the month, positioning them as well as they could hope for the playoff chase.