TORONTO — In his first start with the Toronto Blue Jays, veteran starter Max Scherzer left after just three innings with right lat soreness, the team announced.
Scherzer threw 45 pitches, and appeared to have settled down after allowing two home runs to the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning. He left a 2-2 game that Toronto immediately made 4-2 in the bottom of the third.
But once Baltimore got to Toronto’s relievers, the tables turned. The Orioles scored six runs in the two innings after Scherzer left.
The two-time World Series champion struck out one Oriole and allowed three hits before departing. When he returned to the dugout after his third inning of work, he appeared visibly upset as he spoke to members of the Blue Jays coaching staff.
Earlier this month, Scherzer had a spring training start pushed back because of thumb pain, and the news appeared to get worse in the first inning Saturday, before he settled in.
Baltimore’s Colton Cowser put Scherzer in an early hole with a 417-foot drive to center on the second pitch of the game. And then, Jordan Westburg’s two-out drive off Scherzer traveled 434 feet for the longest home run of his career.
A future Hall of Famer, Scherzer, 40, agreed to a one-year, $15.5 million contract with Toronto in January. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA last season with the Texas Rangers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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