He is the last of a breed, a pitcher who still logs distance runs to enable him the mental and physical strength to keep his stuff deep into games (even if out of respect for the Texas heat, his runs often come inside Globe Life Field with the roof closed). Since he turned 35, he has shamed much younger pitchers by gobbling up more innings than anyone except Gerrit Cole. He is the only pitcher since 1884 to last 2,800 innings and maintain a strikeout-to-walk rate of 4.5.
Rangers righthander Max Scherzer may have the heart of a marathoner and the will of an ox, but when he took the ball for ALCS Game 3 on Wednesday, it proved to be too big of an ask even for him. The ask: Face the best road hitting lineup at age 39 after not pitching for 36 days because of an arm injury.
It went about as should be expected. His stuff was good but a bit short, especially his slider and his command, which were too wobbly to overcome key mistakes. When Texas manager Bruce Bochy removed him after four innings, down 5–0, not even the willful righthander could mount an argument.
