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The Toronto Blue Jays are in the middle of an incredible run; heading into their Tuesday night clash against the New York Yankees, they've gone 29-13 since the start of June. That is a hot streak that now has them in control of the AL East division with some breathing room. However, the Yankees aren't just about to let the Blue Jays pull away without much of a challenge, as the former defeated the latter on Tuesday in the second game of the series, 5-4, to set up a rubber match on Wednesday.
For the Blue Jays, it was veteran starter Max Scherzer who took the bump. He hasn't exactly been at his best in 2025, which shouldn't come as a surprise seeing as he's already 40 years of age, and that persisted on Tuesday. He allowed four earned runs for the Yankees in just five innings of work — with his ERA ballooning to 5.14 (his worst single-season mark if it holds).
Nonetheless, Scherzer vowed that he'll be better for the Blue Jays the next time he goes back to the mound.
“I take accountability for where I put the ball, and I can be better. I know I can be better. So I will be better,” Scherzer said following the Blue Jays' loss, per Mitch Bannon of The Athletic.
Yankees get the better of Max Scherzer, Blue Jays
The Yankees wasted no time making Scherzer's life miserable. After Trent Grisham got a leadoff hit in the top of the first inning, Scherzer compounded matters by throwing a middle-outside fastball that Cody Bellinger pinged to center field for a double. While the Blue Jays veteran rebounded to strike Aaron Judge out, Jazz Chisholm Jr. took advantage of a meatball right in the middle of the zone for a three-run home run.
Bellinger was simply seeing the ball well out of Scherzer's hands, as he followed up a double in the first inning with a home run of his own in the fifth.
This put the Blue Jays on the backfoot for most of the night. While Toronto did rebound to tie the game heading into the ninth, Ben Rice played spoiler and hit the home run that would prove to be the winning one for the Yankees.
Scherzer, on the year, has an ERA of 5.14 in six starts. He's struck out 28 batters in 28.0 innings, but he allows so many good batted balls from the opposition whenever he fails to place his pitches properly.
