Max Scherzer continues to look right at home in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform.
The three-time Cy Young winner continued his build-up to the regular season in Sunday's spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Scherzer worked 3.2 innings, allowing just one hit — a solo shot by Kody Clemens — while striking out four in his second outing at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.
Scherzer threw 47 pitches, averaging 91.7 m.p.h. with his fastball. In total, Scherzer mixed in 24 four-seamers, 10 changeups, six sliders, four curveballs and one cutter, generating six whiffs.
The Phillies' lineup included veterans Trea Turner, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott.
Scherzer struck out Turner, Rafael Marchan, Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Cal Stevenson.
Turner, a former teammate of Scherzer's with both the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers, had a little bit of fun with the longtime ace in his leadoff at-bat.
Philadelphia's shortstop challenged the first pitch of the game — a clear strike — after Scherzer expressed his doubts about MLB's ABS system after his first start of the year.
"Trea's obviously one of my favourite teammates of all-time," Scherzer said after coming out of the game. "We'll have a good laugh about it."
Signed by Toronto on a one-year deal in the off-season, the 40-year-old Scherzer also struck out four in his first start of the spring against the St. Louis Cardinals on Feb. 25.
“Your first three starts, you're getting your feet back underneath you, then the last three starts are ramping up even more, getting into the fine details,” Scherzer told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi after his outing against St. Louis. “So, run the program, stay on course, keep ramping up.”
Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith reported earlier Sunday that Scherzer's next expected start will come on Saturday.
Last season with the Texas Rangers, Scherzer threw 43.1 innings with a 3.95 ERA while dealing with multiple injuries.
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