Detroit — More than 16,000 paying customers made their way into Comerica Park’s gates Wednesday night to see a man once affectionately known around these parts as Mad Max.
What they got was Bad Max — a version of three-time Cy-Young winner Max Scherzer so unrecognizable, the New York Mets were left with no choice but to pull the former Tigers hurler after just 3.1 innings in his return to Detroit.
Scherzer gave up eight hits, six earned runs, two homers and walked one as his day came to an early end in what’d be a 8-1 win for the Tigers, who swept Wednesday’s doubleheader after beating New York, 6-5, in Game 1 on Wednesday afternoon. It was Scherzer’s first start since being suspended 10 games for an illegal substance violation.
“We had to feel him out a little bit and our at-bats got better and better, first time through, especially,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “So to be able to put a couple runs on the board against him and put some pressure on him kind of opened the game for us.”
Opposite of Scherzer (2-2, 5.56 ERA), Detroit starter Michael Lorenzen had his best outing of the season. He pitched a near-spotless seven innings for the Tigers (12-17), giving up just four hits and one earned with two walks and a strikeout. Lorenzen threw 96 pitches, 67 of them strikes.
“He…settled down and just executed his pitches,” Hinch said. “He didn’t overcomplicate things. He didn’t stray from what he does best and he used his weapons. It was nice to see him pitch with a lead and pitch aggressively and get into these at-bats, knowing how much of an advantage it can be to not only be ahead of those guys, but to be ahead of those guys while we have the lead.”
Tigers catcher Eric Haase closed his day with another home run — he hit his first of his season in the day game — and a double. Matt Vierling hit a two-run home run and threw out a runner at second, and Andy Ibanez was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Riley Greene was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Spencer Torkelson was 2-for-4 with an RBI double. The Tigers had 12 hits.
Haase, a Dearborn native who cheered for the Tigers growing up, said he can try to pretend like it was just another homer — but it wasn’t.
“I’ve watched him pitch a lot. I wanna say, ‘OK, it’s just another one,’ but it’s obviously pretty cool. It’s just one of those things where, year in and year out, he seems like he’s getting better and better and better,” Haase said. “So, if anything, to hit a mistake from him was awesome.”
The Mets (16-15) threatened a handful of times to get back in the game but never could string together enough hits to dent the Tigers’ lead. Daniel Vogelbach brought in the only New York run with an RBI double.
Wednesday marked Scherzer’s third start against the Tigers, with whom he first became a Cy Young winner in 2013, since signing a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals in 2015. The two previous starts (in 2016 and 2019) saw Scherzer throw a combined 17 innings and strike out 34 batters in two Nationals wins.
While being pulled in the fourth inning, Scherzer received a standing ovation from the Detroit crowd.
Vierling got the nightcap started on a high note when he gunned down Francisco Lindor trying for a double in the top of the first. A 1-0 fastball from Lorenzen (1-1, 5.14 ERA) came off Lindor’s bat at 109.9 mph, but Vierling played a one-hopper off the wall perfectly to throw out the speedy Lindor with a nice tag from Javier Báez.
“Defensively, in the first game, we made a couple silly mistakes. And there’s gonna be an error or two. We’re not perfect. Nobody is,” Hinch said. “But the defensive efficiency part of our team and the awareness and the execution has been really, really good the last couple weeks. Those are the clean type games that we’re talking about.”
Zach McKinstry drew a walk to start the Tigers’ at-bats in the first. After advancing to second on a Greene infield single and then to third on a sacrifice fly from Javier Báez, McKinstry opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly from Nick Maton. One batter later, Torkelson ripped a double into the gap in left center to drive home Greene for a 2-0, first-inning lead.
The Mets finally broke through in the fourth after Lorenzen issued a lead-off walk to Pete Alonso. Daniel Vogelbach got hold of a high changeup and ripped it down the right-field line to score Alonso with still nobody out.
Scherzer was pulled from the game after the Tigers got to him again in the fourth. Akil Baddoo led off the inning with a single and Vierling belted a 1-1 fastball 404 feet and into the visitors bullpen for a 5-1 lead. Entering the day, Vierling was 11-for-26 with three doubles, four RBI and two walks in his last eight outings.
Andy Ibanez hit a one-out single to left and McKinstry kept the line moving to end Scherzer’s day with runners at the corners and no outs. Zach Muckenhirn entered for the Mets — his MLB debut — and threw all of one pitch before Greene picked up his second hit of the game, a single to right to score Ibanez.
With insurance up for grabs in the eighth, the Tigers put two runners in scoring position on a double from Haase that sent Torkelson to third. Ibanez scored both runners on a single to left.
Tyler Holton pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Tigers, giving up one hit. Jason Foley closed the game for Detroit without allowing any baserunners.
The Tigers will get another familiar face in Thursday’s series finale when longtime Detroit ace Justin Verlander takes the mound for New York. Verlander is making his Mets debut and first start of the season after straining a muscle in his throwing shoulder.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi