TORONTO – The lineup card on the final day of the season told a lot of the story of what direction the Cincinnati Redsseason went this year and the direction their minds were headed beyond this year.
Five rookies were in the lineup while pending free agents Tyler Stephenson and Eugenio Suáreztook the final game off. Elly De La Cruz, who secured a 30-30 season two days earlier, was in the lineup as the DH, only “because he likes to play,” manager Terry Francona said.
One of the rookies, Sal Stewart, logged his 162nd game of the season on his way to a likely Rookie of the Year award.
Not that anybody will remember any of that when baseball reconvenes next year (assuming a labor war ends in time for a season to be played).
The only thing that will
be remembered from this day at Rogers Centre in Toronto is that it belonged to Max Scherzer.
The three-time Cy Young winner, who said this weekend he’s undecided about whether he’ll try to pitch again next season, took the mound on short rest against the Reds in what might be the final start of a certain Hall of Fame career.
He beat the Reds, of course. That’s what he’s done almost every time he has faced them in his career. This time it was by a 5-1 score – four years after he beat them 1-0 in his last start against them.
The rookie in the lineup got 15 at-bats against Scherzer. Carlos Jorge had two hits. The rest went 0-for-12 with four strikeouts.
Asked before the game if he thought it was valuable for the all the young guys to face a Hall of Fame pitcher, Reds manager Terry Francona said, “Yeah. … Well, I hope.”
De La Cruz struck out twice and singled in his first game facing Scherzer — who sent his manager back to the dugout with two out in the seventh when John Schneider walked slowly to the mound.
Scherzer then was the first player to emerge from the dugout in the eighth inning to take his position in the top of the eighth, his pitch count at 109 – as a crowd 42,000 strong roared.
After a leadoff walk to Oswaldo Cabrera, Schneider made the trip to the mound again, and this time a smiling Scherzer gave up the ball, hugged the manager and the infielders gathered on the mound, then headed to the dugout to a standing ovation.
Scherzer struck out seven in his seven-plus innings to finish with 3,557 – three short of longtime friend and former teammate Justin Verlander for eighth on the all-time list.
If this was his last start, he finished his career with a 225-126 record and 3.29 ERA.
The Reds?
For their part as supporting cast in the Scherzer Show, they finished the season 75-87 and in last place in the National League Central.
It's their worst finish since they tanked all the way to 100 losses during the rebuilding process in 2022 and two games worse than they finished during a 2024 face plant that cost the manager and much of the coaching staff their jobs.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds lose as supporting cast in Max Scherzer's possible career finale
