Scherzer on continued struggles: 'I've got to be better'

NEW YORK -- These were not the first boos Max Scherzer has heard at Citi Field. When Scherzer walked off the mound following his lone appearance in the 2022 postseason, jeers rained down on him from a packed stadium. He called the feeling “the lowest of lows.”

The scene was not dissimilar to what unfolded Tuesday night on that same mound, in front of Citi Field’s largest crowd of the season (43,707). After the Yankees battered Scherzer for six runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings, spraying hard-hit ball after hard-hit ball to all corners of the field, Scherzer received a mix of boos and cheers. The positive reactions were largely from Yanks fans, whose own problems seemed diminished compared to the plight of Scherzer and the Mets in a 7-6 loss.

Consider all that happened. There was an ejection for Drew Smith, a missed catch for Brandon Nimmo, a crucial bases-loaded strikeout for Francisco Lindor, a head-scratching managerial decision from Buck Showalter and more. Every bit of it mattered as the Mets fell to their ninth loss in their past 10 games, prompting many to wonder: If this isn’t rock bottom, what is?

“We’ve all got to be better,” Scherzer said. “If we’re going to be better, we’ve got to win as a team. Everybody’s got to do their part to win as a team.”

It all started with Scherzer, who appeared to find some vintage form -- if only briefly -- following a Giancarlo Stanton solo homer in the first. Three innings later, Scherzer began spinning his sliders far too often over the middle of the strike zone, resulting in a DJ LeMahieu two-run homer, an Anthony Volpe RBI double and a Jake Bauers two-run single. At that point, Showalter came to retrieve Scherzer, whose ERA had risen to 4.45.

“You can put the camera right on me,” Scherzer said. “I’ve got to be better.”

Scherzer was not the only one to ask for his helping of the blame. Nimmo, who was unable to glove a Volpe double that led to the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, said: “I made a mistake, and we lost a game because of it.” Lindor, who struck out with the bases loaded and one out against Yankees closer Clay Holmes in the eighth, added: “I’ve just got to be better.” Showalter absorbed his share of queries as well, when he elected to let light-hitting Luis Guillorme bat in the ninth instead of power threats Mark Vientos or Dan Vogelbach.

But the game, like so much of this Mets season, hinged on Scherzer, who has completed six innings just four times in 11 starts.

“I thought we did a really good job taking advantage of a couple of his mistakes,” LeMahieu said. “He threw some really good pitches to hit. We didn’t miss them.”

That has been a theme for Scherzer, who blamed his Subway Series issues entirely on his slider. Both Yankees homers came on Scherzer sliders over the heart of the plate, as did Volpe’s RBI double. Scherzer generated just one whiff all night on the pitch, which has historically been his best weapon.

“This is simple: I struggled with my slider,” Scherzer said. “Every time I was throwing my slider, it was hanging. I wasn’t executing it the way I needed to.”

Added Scherzer: “I can’t believe I was hanging that many sliders in all those situations.”

Afterward, the three-time Cy Young Award winner offered confidence that he can correct his slider with “a little fix” between starts. Perhaps that’s true. But this has been a season of necessary little fixes for Scherzer, for Lindor and for so many others on the roster. The weight of them is adding up. With another loss on their ledger, the Mets fell 9 1/2 games behind the Braves in the National League East. The Wild Card remains a more realistic target, but even that goal has faded over the past few weeks.

In many ways, the Subway Series can be a litmus test for the Mets, who play these games in front of sold-out crowds against a team that -- even in relative down years -- always brings a level of quality. The Mets came away from their first Subway Series game of 2023 feeling only frustrated that they could not pass that test.

“Once again, I felt like we were going to win the game,” Lindor said. “The whole entire game, I felt we were in it. We were going to win it. … At some point, we’re going to start winning more games.”