Max Scherzer got the start he badly needed on Monday, tossing five shutout innings while allowing just one hit in a win over the Padres, but the performance wasn't particularly inspiring for Gio or Jerry.
"I think a lot of people will look at this game and say 'Look, he had a no-hitter going, he was great, he didn't give up a run.' If you're watching this game, he is battling his ass off in this game," Gio said. "In the first inning, he gets bailed out with a double play…it's a tough lineup, but this guy is way up there with his pitch count…and the Mets have to go into the underbelly of this bullpen which isn't as good because of the Edwin Diaz injury.
"I just need more from Max Scherzer…this was not a great start for Max Scherzer. It was not. It was better, and there were some things that helped him out. But this was a guy, to me, who was laboring."
Jerry saw much of the same as Gio did, and while the results were there, the process of getting there seemed like much more of a labor than it does when Scherzer is anywhere close to his best.
"There were no swings and misses…everything is a 3-2 count," Jerry said. "The at-bat with Austin Nola, I believe the last batter he faced, was like a 20-pitch at-bat. I think it was 12. Nola fouled off pitch after pitch. That, to me, was the story of the night…he didn't have that knockout pitch. he did battle, he's gonna give you a good effort."
It was a grind-it-out effort from Scherzer, but Gio says it wasn't nearly breezy enough to be convinced that his two rough starts to begin the season are a thing of the past.
"You want to tell me this was a step in the right direction, fine," Gio said. "But I'm not gonna take that he's back."
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