Max is Back

■ Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer figures himself out - at least for one start (Detroit Free Press)

Scherzer entered Sunday's game with a 7.29 ERA, which is two runs north of lousy. He left it to a standing ovation, after striking out 14 Oakland A's.

Scherzer had been sent to Toledo to fix his troubles. He had said the problem was his arm slot, and I think the general reaction from Tigers fans was "Um, OK ... if you say so." Pitchers usually give a reason for their struggles: My arm slot is too high, my arm slot is too low, I'm tipping my pitches, I need to be more aggressive, I'm being too aggressive, I have to throw my curveball more, I have to trust my stuff, etc.
. . .
The Tigers sent him down to Toledo.

He pitched great down there, then came back up and absolutely dominated the A's. After walking Rajai Davis to lead off the game, Scherzer struck out six of the next seven batters.

"From the first pitch on, I could tell," catcher Gerald Laird said.

"He was pounding the zone with his fastball, and his fastball had life. I could tell from the first inning on he would have a good game."

■ Tigers ,amager Jim Leyland - easy does it for MAx Scherzer (Detroit Free PRess)

"I didn't know what the results would be, but you could see from the start that (his arm) was in a better position. You could tell he was in the slot from the get-go.

"The ball was coming out of his hand so easy."

Especially his fastball. But there's more work to do.