The Detroit Tigers picked up a win on Tuesday night in their series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, but the big story coming out of the evening was the continued success from starting pitcher Max Scherzer. Scherzer struck out eight batters, increasing his season total to 186 and recapturing his spot atop the MLB leaderboard for the stat. .
That strikeout total beats Scherzer's previous career best -- a solid accomplishment considering there's more than a week left in the month of August -- but he humbly told the Detroit News after the game that strikeouts aren't his main concern.
"When my off-speed pitches are in the zone, that's usually when I have success," he said. "But putting up zeroes is way more important than strikeouts. Turning a 5-1 lead over to my bullpen is what puts a smile on my face."
Scherzer currently leads Stephen Strasburg by three strikeouts for the lead in the majors, but his biggest competition might be on his own team. It will be interesting to see if Scherzer is able to hold off Justin Verlander -- currently just six strikeouts behind his Tigers teammate at 180 this season.
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