Mets' Max Scherzer exits Wednesday's game with left side discomfort, will undergo MRI Thursday

With two outs in the top of the sixth inning in Wednesday's game between the Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, Max Scherzer threw his 87^th pitch of the night and immediately motioned to the dugout that he couldn’t continue.

The team later announced that Scherzer left due to discomfort in his left side, with imaging to come on Thursday.

Scherzer had gone 5.2 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks. The runners on base were his responsibility, but Adam Ottavino struck out Albert Pujols to end the inning.

The veteran’s final pitch of the night was an 85 mph slider to Pujols which didn’t seem to have much bite to it. Scherzer immediately signaled to the dugout that he couldn’t go any further.

"My side was kind of tight all of today," Scherzer explained afterwards. "In the sixth there in that Pujols at-bat, just felt a zing on my left side and just knew I was done. I’ve never had left side – you don’t know what the exact injury is, but I’ve never had a left side injury before, so when I felt it I just knew ‘There’s no way you can throw another pitch, so just get out of there.'"

Scherzer and the Mets will know more about the injury on Thursday, as the veteran right-hander will receive an MRI in the morning. So while the exact extent of the injury is currently unknown, Scherzer is hopeful he caught it early before things could get worse.

"I don’t think this is a major strain," he said. "Like I said, I was kind of tight and then all of a sudden it went, but I don’t feel like I really ripped it, to kind of say it. It just got worse.

"Hopefully I got out of there quick enough to prevent a major injury here, because I know obliques and intercostals, those things can be nasty. Hopefully I avoided a serious injury."

Manager Buck Showalter didn't have much info he could add before Thursday's imaging, but he did point out that Scherzer has done a good job in the past of identifying an injury early.

"With the hamstring a little bit that we dealt with (at the end spring training and beginning of the season), he’s been a great self-evaluator," Showalter said. "He knows when he’s at a point where if he pushes more it’s going to turn into something serious. That’s why we were able to catch the hamstring early.

"He’s not going to put himself in harm’s way."

Scherzer missing any time is one of the last things this Mets team needs right now. Jacob deGrom remains out due to a stress reaction in his scapula, though he is now increasing his throwing distance after the latest imaging showed "continued healing." Meanwhile, Tylor Megill is on the 15-day IL with right biceps inflammation.

But even if Scherzer is forced to miss some time, Showalter believes in the depth the team has built, as well as the overall mindset that they carry into every game, no matter who is out there.

"This is not a ‘sky is falling’ team," said Showalter.