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SAN FRANCISCO — Max Scherzer came charging out of the bullpen like he was being chased. He came on so strong there was some question as to whether he left early, a false start, as if he viewed his 14 years in the big leagues as simply a prelude to this moment.
At some point after — or maybe even slightly before — Wilmer Flores stepped on first base to retire Matt Beaty for the final out of the top of the ninth inning, the door to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen flew open and here he came, this raging man hell-bent on doing something he’d never done before: save a baseball game.
“Flores touched first base, and it felt like Scherz was halfway to the mound,” Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts said afterward. He laughed and looked to his right, where Scherzer sat, wearing a smile that didn’t appear to connect to the rest of his face.
The Dodgers are, once again, in the National League Championship Series, and their 2-1 win in Game 5 of the division series against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park was punctuated by the strong presence of Scherzer, who set the Giants down in the ninth and then proceeded to engulf his teammates in a series of hugs notable for their ferocity.
Scherzer started and pitched well in Game 3, a 1-0 Giants win, and he arrived at the ballpark on Thursday determined to get on the mound one more time. He played catch about three hours before the game and pronounced himself ready.
“No question I was ready,” he said. “I told them I was hot. I knew my arm felt great, so if you want it, you got it.”
In the fourth inning, Scherzer headed for the bullpen, even though he knew he wouldn’t be used until the late innings, if at all. He went down there, he said, “to get comfortable, feel what it was like, be with the boys.” Asked what he and the boys talked about, Scherzer said, “You know — baseball talk. Fantasy football trades.”
There’s a lot of pent-up energy inside Scherzer, and there’s an outside chance he might have run out there for the…
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Source : espn
