SEATTLE — Max Scherzer had not pitched in 22 days, had been left off the Division Series roster of the Blue Jays, had stumbled to the finish of the regular season with a 9.00 ERA in his final six starts and had enough physical maladies over the past two seasons—back, shoulder, triceps, hamstring, thumb, lat, neck, etc.—to mimic a 41-year-old weekend pickleball player, not the 41-year-old three-time Cy Young Award winner that he is. His start in Game 4 of the ALCS had the trappings of a tour of a 1970s band: cutely nostalgic, but nothing more.
Then he started warming up in the T-Mobile Park visiting bullpen and something magical happened. The ball flew out his hand with ease and power. He spun the ball with precision. Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker could hardly believe what he was watching.
