There has been a single moment in my career as an average athlete in which I have made my opponent laugh in disbelief, and I won't hesitate to say that it was one of the best feelings I've experienced while playing sports. It occurred when I randomly decided to turn into Stephen Curry for a solid three-minute stretch toward the end of a pick-up game at a park in Philadelphia, knocking down four straight three-pointers of increasing distance and ultimately ending the game. I can assure you that I am not Stephen Curry, nor am I typically a knockdown iso scorer... nor do I enjoy talking about myself this much, so I'll end my little anecdote here.
The point is that the poor soul that needed to defend my temporarily unguardable self could only laugh and shake his head when he saw the last of my four treys fall, and I felt like a true king among peasants for a time. A similar moment unfolded in Wednesday's Cardinals-Nationals game involving someone who probably produces a lot of baffled laughs and frustrated sighs.
We're talking about Max Scherzer, of course, who took the mound against the Cards and struck out nine batters in six innings of scoreless work. This is nothing new, and neither are completely nasty pitches that freeze the opposition and make them look silly. But, again, that feeling of power when you simply leave a batter laughing is something that's always worth pointing out, and this was the case when Carlos Martinez took his hacks at the dish.
Martinez is a pitcher, so it's not all that impressive that Scherzer caught him whiffing. But it's even more of a testament to just how gnarly the slider was that another pitcher acknowledged its unhittable nature.
What's even more unbelievable, however, is that Martinez actually got a double off of Scherzer in his first at-bat of the game, which was probably what led to Mad Max throwing him complete filth on the second go-around (via MLB Film Room).
Ultimately, it was a strong pitching outing from both sides and a tough break for Martinez, who got the loss despite surrendering only one run on four hits in six innings of work. He now drops to 0-4 on the season after getting roughed up in his first three tries. Scherzer, alternatively, is 1-1 with his usual high strikeout rate (11.9 per nine innings) and a 1.80 ERA.
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