Suárez outduels Scherzer in 6-inning gem: 'More than we could ask for'
This browser does not support the video element.
BALTIMORE -- Albert Suárez is only five years younger than Max Scherzer. But when it comes to MLB experience, there’s a much larger gap between the two.
When Suárez took the mound for the Orioles on Friday night at Camden Yards, the 34-year-old right-hander made his 57th big league appearance, and only his 22nd start. Meanwhile, the 39-year-old Scherzer toed the rubber for the Rangers for his 459th career outing, and his 450th start.
The pitching matchup didn’t go as some may have expected it would.
Suárez cruised through six scoreless innings, outdueling Scherzer and leading Baltimore to a 2-1 victory. It was the longest of Suárez’s 17 outings (which include 10 starts) in his surprise season, during which he has a 2.43 ERA over 59 1/3 innings.
A head-to-head duel with a future Hall of Famer can provide an adrenaline boost to some pitchers. For Suárez, it was a chance to perhaps pick up on some of the things that make Scherzer an all-time great.
“He’s a great pitcher, and you always learn,” Suárez said. “For me, it’s a learning process, and to see a pitcher like him executing, you always learn something from it.”
This browser does not support the video element.
Because Suárez spent six years out of the Majors -- 2018 in Triple-A, 2019-21 in Japan and ’22-23 in Korea -- he reinvented himself before returning with Baltimore this year. His high-octane four-seam fastball is now the key to his success, and it was the primary reason he tossed 11 1/3 scoreless frames over his first two outings for the O’s in April.
However, Suárez’s heater wasn’t as effective over his two starts during last week’s road trip through New York and Houston. He took losses against both the Yankees (three runs allowed in 3 2/3 innings on June 18) and the Astros (a season-high five runs allowed in five innings on Sunday).
After walking a combined eight batters over those two appearances, Suárez issued no walks during his 87-pitch outing vs. Texas. He retired 18 of the 21 batters he faced (including 11 of the final 12) while yielding only a trio of singles and notching two strikeouts.
“I thought he had the life to his fastball that he had the first few outings with us. We saw a lot of 95, 96 [mph],” O’s manager Brandon Hyde said. “Some good changeups, also. The cutter had a little bit more sweep to it than normal. But really efficient for six innings, and more than we could ask for.”
This browser does not support the video element.
“We just had a hard time with him tonight,” Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy said.
Suárez threw 15 pitches at 96-plus mph -- three more than he had over his first four starts of June combined.
It was the first time Suárez pitched six or more innings in an MLB game since July 3, 2016, his rookie year with the Giants. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, that gap of 7 years and 361 days marked the longest between 6-inning outings for an MLB pitcher since Terry Davis went 8 years and 311 days (Sept. 11, 1988 for the Angels and July 19, 1997 for Cleveland).
“Every time I can go longer to help the bullpen, it’s good,” Suárez said. “To me, because I’ve been in the bullpen, too, I know how it feels. So as a starter, you want to go as long as you can.”
This browser does not support the video element.
On the other side of the pitching duel, the Orioles scored both of their runs against Scherzer, who went 5 1/3 innings in his second start back from back/nerve injuries. Colton Cowser slugged a solo home run in the fourth, then Gunnar Henderson added an RBI single in the fifth.
Cowser’s homer was Baltimore’s 58th in June, tied for the most in a single month in franchise history (also done in May 1987).
This browser does not support the video element.
After snapping a season-long five-game losing streak with a series finale victory over the Guardians on Wednesday, the O’s (52-30) are rolling again. They’ve won three in a row, and they sit tied with the Yankees (53-31) atop the American League East.
The Orioles have also received three straight gems from starters -- Grayson Rodriguez (seven innings of two-run ball on Wednesday), Corbin Burnes (seven innings of one-run ball on Thursday) and Suárez -- after their rotation posted a 7.76 ERA during the five-game skid.
“It just says a whole lot about this team,” Cowser said. “We don’t like to get too down on our lows and too high on our highs. I think just staying kind of in the middle all season long is something that it takes to play 162 of these. We have great leadership and a really good clubhouse, so it doesn’t really surprise me the way we’ve responded.”