Max Scherzer knows opposing hitters are going to attack him early in the count. He’s aware they’re going to be swinging out of the gate. So he knows he has to execute on every pitch.
“I feel like it’s been happening more and more in my career. Guys are going up there early hacking,” Scherzer said after he gave up two solo home runs, (one by Kyle Farmer on a 95 MPH first-pitch fastball up and in in the third, and another a 1-1 changeup away to Eugenio Suárez in the sixth that didn’t get far enough outside), in what ended up being a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.