Max Scherzer has joined an increasingly exclusive club.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner reached 3,000 career innings after retiring the Boston Red Sox in the first frame at Rogers Centre on Thursday. He induced a pop-out from Masataka Yoshida to cross the threshold.
Scherzer allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks, striking out four over five innings in a 7-0 Blue Jays loss to the Red Sox.
"It's a really cool milestone, it just stinks that it comes in a loss," Scherzer said after the game. "... When the team doesn't win, it's tough to celebrate something that you accomplish."
While 139 pitchers have reached the milestone in MLB history, Justin Verlander is the only other active pitcher with over 3,000 career innings pitched.
CC Sabathia, Zack Greinke and Mark Buehrle are the only other pitchers to accomplish the feat this century.
As MLB teams and the sport as a whole have become increasingly cognizant of pitchers' arm health, and the number of pitching-related elbow surgeries has increased, teams have become more conservative with their starters' usage.
"I respect getting to 3,000 is a big deal," Scherzer said. "It's a test of durability, and being out there posting, making starts year in, year out. Making 30-plus starts, I don't know how many times I did that. And all the coaches that have been a part of it, catchers, trainers, you name it. It takes a lot of people in order for me to be successful."
Scherzer entered MLB's top 10 all-time strikeout leaders in his last start, punching out Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber for his 3,516th career K.
The 42-year-old struggled with health issues and underperformance to start this season, making just five starts and pitching to a 9.64 ERA over the first two months.
However, he's rediscovered his form lately, logging a 2.37 ERA with 17 strikeouts over his last four starts since returning to the rotation.
Chris Sale is third among active starters with 2,207 innings pitched and is projected to come well short of the 3,000 mark. No other current pitcher is on pace to achieve the milestone, either.
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