This was one of those nights that Mets fans will talk about for a while.
Max Scherzer threw six perfect innings, won his 200th career game, and the Mets punched their ticket to the postseason for the first time since 2016 with a 7-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night at American Family Field.
Scherzer was on a strict pitch count as he made his first start since Sept. 3 following a brief IL stint — so he made the most of it.
The future Hall of Famer and three-time Cy Young Award winner was superb, throwing six perfect innings by retiring each of the 18 batters he faced on 68 pitches with nine strikeouts.
He did so while leaning heavily on his fastball and pounding the zone, understanding that there couldn’t be any wasted pitches with an early hook looming. With it came the distinction of putting together the longest perfect start in franchise history by three innings.
Not only did Scherzer outduel reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes, but he watched his Mets (94-55) have a field day against Milwaukee’s ace.
Pete Alonso destroyed his 36th home run of the season in the third inning — a screamer of a three-run shot into the second deck of American Family Field — to raise his season RBI total to 118. That’s just six away from tying the Mets franchise record for most RBI in a single season.
They kept it going in the fifth when Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor hit back-to-back triples to become the first pair of Mets teammates to do so since Jose Reyes and Jason Bay on April 23, 2010.
Lindor ultimately came home when Daniel Vogelbach stayed hot with a double, ultimately running Burnes from the game.
Upon Scherzer’s exit, Tylor Megill made his first appearance since mid-June after a lengthy IL stint and his first-ever outing as a reliever. He quickly saw the perfect game go up in smoke as Christian Yelich led off the seventh inning with a double down the left-field line before Rowdy Tellez launched a two-run shot to bring the Brewers to within three.
The Mets got it right back in the eighth with two-out, run-scoring singles from Tyler Naquin and Tomas Nido to restore the five-run advantage.
