'Pissed off' Max Scherzer brings MLB's longest winner-take-all pitching résumé to World Series Game 7

The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers will meet one last time on Saturday night to determine this year's championship in World Series Game 7. The Dodgers, seeking to become the first repeat Fall Classic winner since 2000, staved off elimination on Friday night and evened the series with a Game 6 victory. The Blue Jays will now have one more shot -- and at home, mind you -- to win their first title since 1993.

The Dodgers did not officially announce Shohei Ohtani will at least open the contest until Saturday afternoon, hours before first pitch. There was no such mystery to be had with the Blue Jays. Manager John Schneider confirmed after Game 6 that Max Scherzer will get the ball to begin Saturday's contest.

Max Scherzer

TOR • SP • #31

ERA5.19

WHIP1.29

IP85

BB23

K82

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"No better guy to have on the mound to kind of navigate the emotions, the stuff," Schneider said following Game 6. "Max has been getting ready for Game 7 when he knew he was pitching Game 3. So all the confidence in the world in him and everyone tomorrow."

Scherzer is no stranger to this particular situation. In fact, his Game 7 start will mark his record-breaking ninth appearance in an winner-take-all game. According to MLB's Sarah Langs, Scherzer will in turn ellipse veteran closer Aroldis Chapman for the most winner-take-all appearances for a pitcher in league history.

Here are three more things to know about Scherzer as he prepares for Game 7.

1. Mixed big-game history

Scherzer, 41, did not perform to his standards during the regular season. In 17 starts, he amassed a 5.19 ERA (82 ERA+) and a 3.57 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions were estimated to be just above the replacement-level line, per Baseball Reference's calculations. Yet none of that will matter, in Toronto or anywhere else, if he's able to turn back the clock on Saturday night.

While there's no predictive power to be found in these things, Scherzer's teams are 6-2 for his career in winner-take-all games that he's appeared in. (You can see the full slate below, including a few relief appearances.) On an individual level, he's tallied a 4.10 ERA across 26 ⅓ innings in those outings.

Scherzer's postseason triumphs, like combining with Stephen Strasburg to drag the Nationals to the title in 2019 or returning in a compromised state to contribute to the Rangers' 2023 title run, have cast him as a final boss of sorts in the postseason. His actual history is more mixed, as you would expect from someone about to make his 33rd career outing in the playoffs.

That's a regular season's amount, and just as sure as pitchers are prone to some off nights from April through September, Scherzer has had his share in October. Again, though, nobody thinks about him giving up seven runs (on four home runs) with the Mets in the 2022 Wild Card Series, nor do people recall his meltdown in Game 6 of the 2011 ALCS, or his blown save in the 2017 NLDS, and so on.

Scherzer, for his part, offered some perspective on the highs and lows of his playoff career prior to his Game 3 start.

"It's more I've been in these moments and I've gotten beat. I know what happens when you lose," he said. "When you lose you got to really reflect upon yourself and think about all the different things, why you lost. So those are the things that you learn the most about, so you don't make the same mistake twice."

We'll see what Scherzer learned from Game 3, when he surrendered three runs in 4 ⅓ innings pitched.

2. Already locked in

Part of Scherzer's aforementioned reputation, and perhaps even his mystique, is his intensity. There is no room for tomfoolery or hijinx when he's on the mound, in any situation but especially an important one. He approaches his labor with the same ferocity one might expect from a prizefighter. 

It should come as no surprise, then, that outfielder Myles Straw said after Game 6 that Scherzer already looked "pissed off."

Yet Scherzer clearly has an appreciation for the importance of the World Series and how it is reflected in baseball's grand history. Here's what he said when he was asked about that very subject earlier in the week.

"That's what's awesome about baseball at this stage. You got the two best teams in the world going at each other, with everybody watching, with all the chips on the table," Scherzer said. "So that's what makes you excited as a ball player, that you get this type of opportunity to play in this type of environment. There's nothing like it. There's nothing like it in the world that can give you this type of adrenaline rush. 

"We're all just excited to be part of this, grinding at this together, and we believe that it could be anybody on our team that could have that type of moment."

3. Bragging rights, third ring at stake

Scherzer has the chance to claim his third career World Series title, having previously lifted the trophy with the 2019 Nationals and 2023 Rangers. He also has the chance to deny Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts his fourth World Series ring, as well as a slew of other Dodgers their third.

Indeed, the following Dodgers already have two rings to their name: third baseman Max Muncy (2020 and 2024 Dodgers); left-hander Clayton Kershaw (same); catcher Will Smith (same); outfielder Enrique Hernandez (same); reliever Blake Treinen (same); released utility player Chris Taylor (same); and first baseman Freddie Freeman, who won with the Dodgers last year and the Atlanta Braves in 2021.

Scherzer would be the only active player to win a World Series ring with three different teams.