Max Scherzer walked off the mound in Game 7 of the World Series at Rogers Centre to a standing ovation.
The two-time World Series champion left the game staked to a 3-1 lead, in position to win both himself and the Toronto Blue Jays a third Commissioner’s Trophy on Saturday.
Scherzer allowed the one run on four hits and one walk while striking out three over 4.1 innings.
The 41-year-old cruised through the first three innings, allowing only one hit to Shohei Ohtani in the first at-bat of the game.
In the fourth inning, the top of the Los Angeles Dodgers order managed to generate offence against Scherzer, as Will Smith and Freddie Freeman started double-single before Teoscar Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to score a run.
Scherzer was replaced by Louis Varland in the fifth after allowing a line-drive single to Miguel Rojas.
It was Varland’s major-league record 15th relief appearance of the post-season, and the hard-throwing right hander induced consecutive fly-ball outs from Smith and Freeman to escape the jam unscathed.
