Max Scherzer's path back to the Toronto Blue Jays rotation continued with triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday.
And while the three-time Cy Young winner's outing got off to a rough start, he settled in to work four innings of five-run ball for the Bisons against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Scherzer tossed 72 pitches — 49 for strikes — on the evening, allowing five earned runs, six hits and no walks while striking out five.
The 41-year-old averaged 93.4 m.p.h. with his fastball and mixed in his slider, changeup and curveball.
"You get to check a lot of boxes here," Scherzer said after the start. "You gotta be able to pitch around some traffic and deal with some hits. That's a part of baseball, and sometimes, if you come down here and you're perfect, you don't get as much work in.
"So, I'm actually glad (that) you kinda get some groundballs that go through and everything — that's fine. It allows me to pitch out of the stretch and have to grind through an inning."
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pushed across four runs in the first inning against the future Hall of Famer. Three of its first four hitters reached on singles, loading the bases, before Oswaldo Cabrera scored on a sacrifice fly to the warning track.
Tyler Hardman then delivered the big blow, launching a two-out, three-run homer over the wall in centre field to grow the early lead.
The RailRiders scored again in the second, when Duke Ellis led off with a single, then stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and came across the plate on another sac fly.
Scherzer dialled in from there, however, retiring six of the seven batters he faced in the third and fourth innings — three of those on swinging strikeouts.
"No (physical) issues. I got everything under control right now," Scherzer said. "But I got to stay on top of it. It seems like I've been playing whack-a-mole and I just need to get back out there and just start making starts and be healthy at the same time."
The veteran righty began his rehab assignment on Friday with the high-A Vancouver Canadians, throwing 49 pitches (33 strikes) across three innings. He allowed three hits and two earned runs, striking out three batters and walking a pair.
He last pitched for Toronto on June 10 against the Philadelphia Phillies before hitting the injured list later that week with back spasms.
Various ailments have limited Scherzer to just six starts and 22 innings with the Blue Jays this season, in which he owns a 10.23 ERA, 14 strikeouts and 11 walks.
He was also sidelined from April 24 to June 10 due to right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation.
