LOS ANGELES — Max Scherzer zoomed past another signpost on his way to Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday, barely pausing to mark the 3,000th strikeout of a distinguished 14-year career that will likely culminate with his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When the Dodgers right-hander whiffed Eric Hosmer with a full-count, 88-mph changeup in the fifth inning of an 8-0 victory over the San Diego Padres, catcher Will Smith tossed the milestone ball to the dugout and Scherzer doffed his cap to the roaring Chavez Ravine crowd, the delay lasting all of about 20 seconds.
Scherzer had work to do, and that laser focus and refusal to disrupt his rhythm pushed him to the brink of another chunk of history.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner retired the first 22 batters he faced, but five outs away from a perfect game — a feat accomplished by only 23 major league pitchers — Scherzer gave up a one-out double in the eighth inning to Hosmer, who laced a 2-and-1 changeup into the right-field corner.
Scherzer, who threw two no-hitters for the Nationals in 2015, settled for an eight-inning, one-hit, nine-strikeout, no-walk gem that improved his record to 14-4 with a major league-best 2.17 ERA on the season and 6-0 with an 0.88 ERA in eight starts since his July 30 trade from Washington.
He threw 92 pitches, 62 for strikes, and did not throw more than 14 pitches in any inning. Scherzer has struck out 72 and walked five in 51 innings of his eight starts for the Dodgers, and he has not given up an earned run in 29 2/3 innings of his last four starts against San Diego (twice), Atlanta and St. Louis.
After striking out Trent Grisham with an 85-mph changeup to open the game, Scherzer carved out another slice of history in the second when he threw the third immaculate inning of his career, striking out Fernando Tatis Jr., Hosmer and Tommy Pham on nine strikes, all swinging, three of which were fouled off.
Only two other pitchers are believed to have thrown at least three immaculate innings, Dodgers Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and current Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale.
Scherzer whiffed Wil Myers with an 89-mph cut-fastball to open the third for career strikeout No. 2,999. Austin Nola grounded out to shortstop and Nabil Crismatt, who replaced injured Padres starter Blake Snell in the first inning, hit a tapper back to the mound for the third out.
That was probably fine with Scherzer, who wouldn’t have wanted his 3,000th strikeout to come against a relief pitcher.
Scherzer got Hosmer to chase a down-and-in, full-count changeup for the second out of the fifth inning to become only the 19th pitcher in major league history to reach 3,000 strikeouts and the first to do it in a Dodgers uniform.
Of the 18 pitchers in baseball’s exclusive 3,000-strikeout club, all but four — Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander — are in the Hall of Fame. Sabathia retired after 2019 and is not yet eligible for Hall-of-Fame voting, and Verlander is still active.
“It’s consistent, elite performance, being healthy, taking the baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the 3,000-strikeout mark before the game. “I know for him, for his family, it’s something that is highly anticipated, they’re excited about it, as they should be.
“But that’s gonna be one part of it. There’s going to be a moment, and we expect it to happen, but his sole purpose is to go out there and help us win a ballgame.”
The Dodgers caught a huge break when Snell, who has been almost as dominant as Scherzer since early August, suffered a left adductor injury on his 11th pitch of the game and departed with two outs in the first.
Snell was 3-2 with a 1.85 ERA in his previous seven starts, striking out 65 and walking 14 in 43 2/3 innings and limiting opponents to a .136 average.
He entered with a 1-0 record and 1.80 ERA in five career starts against the Dodgers, not including the 5 1/3 innings of one-run, two-hit, nine-strikeout, no-walk ball he threw for the Rays in Game 6 of the World Series last Oct. 27.
Crismatt relieved Snell and threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, but Corey Seager hit a two-out solo home run to center field off Dinelson Lamet in the fourth inning, and Mookie Betts drove a home run to left off Pierce Johnson to lead off the fifth for a 2-0 Dodgers lead.
The Dodgers added four insurance runs in the seventh when Gavin Lux singled, took second on Scherzer’s sacrifice bunt and third when Myers, San Diego’s right fielder, lost Betts’ high fly ball in the sun, the ball dropping for a single.
Max Muncy poked an RBI double into the right-field corner for a 3-0 lead, and Justin Turner crushed a two-out, three-run homer to left-center off Emilio Pagan — his 24th of the season— to make it 6-0.
The Dodgers, who remained 2 ½ games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West with 18 games left, scored two more runs in the eighth, an inning in which Padres reliever Austin Adams hit three batters, giving the wild right-hander 23 hit batsmen on the season, an expansion-era record.
