Scherzer back on the bump, returns with solid stuff

SEATTLE -- Max Scherzer came off the injured list, with probably three starts left on his docket and something to prove. Not to himself. He knew his latest setback wasn’t structural. It was the type of pain (nerve) that could be fixed with mechanical tweaks instead of surgery, even though it forced a six-week break in his already-delayed season.

Saturday, in the Rangers’ 5-4 walk-off loss to the Mariners, he finally returned. In the three-time Cy Young Award winner’s eyes, he showed exactly what he wanted.

“My arm’s in a much better spot, physically,” Scherzer said. “That’s the best I’ve felt, physically in the second half. I really checked that box, and I feel good about where my arm is at. So moving forward, it’s not systemic. I’m getting over this and learning how to manage my arm better, and hopefully finish these last few starts strong.”

Working on a limited pitch count, the third of Texas’ three headline starts in Seattle -- following Kumar Rocker’s much-anticipated MLB debut and Jacob deGrom's return from Tommy John -- Scherzer had his highs and lows.

He began his night flawlessly, striking out Victor Robles on three pitches. From there, he dealt with hard contact and traffic but got through four innings on 73 pitches, striking out two and allowing two runs on five hits and two walks.

The 40-year-old’s fastball averaged 92.1 mph, topping out at 93.7, comparable to where he’d been earlier in the summer. He got 11 swings-and-misses, including five on eight swings against his curveball.

“He’s so competitive and so prepared, and he went out there and did a really good job, I thought,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “That’s four innings of solid work. He used all of his pitches, had pretty good command of them. I thought it was a good day for him.”

Scherzer finished the third inning on 58 pitches, just behind where deGrom ended his outing Friday. Bochy said he talked with Scherzer, and the righty talked himself into another inning, which he got through on 15 pitches.

For his part, Scherzer said he thought he could have gone out for a fifth frame.

“I just need to be a little bit sharper to be great,” Scherzer said. “That comes with time; I haven’t been in a big league game in over six weeks. You’re going to show a little rust, and that’s fine. You worry more about where your stuff’s at, how you’re throwing the ball.

“Yeah, I can be a little better, sharper. But you don’t beat yourself up in this situation. Instead, you try to take the positives and move forward.”

When Scherzer’s outing ended, it was time for the Rangers’ other pitching storyline. Jack Leiter got back on the mound for the first time in seven days.

With Rocker, deGrom and Scherzer all in the mix at once, Bochy suddenly found himself with seven starting pitchers. Six-man rotations are workable; seven is just too much. Leiter -- Texas’ No. 4 prospect -- was the odd man out.

Then again, with three straight starters working on pitch counts and the bullpen needing to cover 28 outs across the first two games in Seattle, Bochy knew there would be an obvious spot to use his young righty in relief.

That’s what happened Saturday. Leiter took over in the fifth and matched Scherzer for workload, going four innings and striking out six while allowing two runs, on a Luke Raley homer in his first frame.

After that, Leiter worked around all the traffic the Mariners threw at him, getting out of the seventh inning on a double play with the go-ahead run on third and ending the eighth by getting J.P. Crawford waving at a curveball in the dirt.

“Pitching that seventh and eighth with runners in scoring position, he made pitches when he had to,” Bochy said. “Good outing for him.”

Bochy said that, at the moment, there likely won’t be an opportunity for Leiter to start any of the Rangers’ remaining 12 games. Instead, they’ll look to plug him in as a long reliever working on a starter’s schedule, going again in four or five days.

“It didn’t feel like I was a reliever,” Leiter said. “Once I got out there, it felt like I was a starter -- the fifth inning just happened to be the first. I think I can learn a lot from outings like that that I can take back to starting.”