Scherzer's heat melts Twins strategy

Ben Revere struck out to open the bottom of the first inning Wednesday, but it took nine pitches from Tigers righthander Max Scherzer to dispose of him.

Darin Mastroianni followed with a strikeout, too. But now Scherzer had thrown 14 pitches. The Twins had seen all of Scherzer's stuff and were ready to work counts deep and run him out of the game in the middle innings.

This is the age in which the walk is a weapon, managers get squeamish about pitch counts, and teams that can grind out good at-bats usually are rewarded.

There was no payoff for being patient on Wednesday, when Detroit won 5-1 at Target Field and Scherzer navigated through the Twins lineup with 117 pitches over seven shutout innings, tied for the third-most pitches he has thrown in a game this season.

"You're watching and he's got all these pitches and you expected him to start making mistakes," Mastroianni said, "and he really didn't leave much over the plate."

Said manager Ron Gardenhire, "I thought we did a nice job of making [Scherzer] throw a lot of pitches, but he didn't bury himself."

Just when the Twins thought they had an advantage, Scherzer's GPS kicked in. He hit 99 miles per hour with his fastball, and his other stuff was nasty, too.

The Twins, who finished 1-5 on their six-game homestand to fall back into last place in the AL, believed there was a window to knock Scherzer out of the game in the second and third innings. Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit led off the second with walks. Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones went to the mound after the count to Doumit went 2-0, as Scherzer misfired on pitches and looked agitated.

Then Scherzer fanned Trevor Plouffe with a fastball clocked at 98; Jamey Carroll swung and missed a 99-mph heater to strike out; and Alexi Casilla looked at a 95-mph fastball for strike three. Scherzer had thrown 49 pitches through two innings.

The Twins came right back in the third when Revere singled to center. He tried to steal second, but Tigers catcher Alex Avila nailed him with an outstanding throw. It was a significant play, because Mastroianni followed with an infield single. Joe Mauer struck out on an incorrectly called strike three and let plate umpire Jim Wolf know it as he walked to the bench. Josh Willingham flied out to end what could have been a promising inning.

Those two outs started a run of 11 consecutive Twins retired.

"That helped keep momentum on our side," Scherzer said. "That allows me to have a clean inning, and it allowed our hitters momentum for the next inning, and that's when Delmon hit the bomb."

De Vries (2-4) was removed after four innings and hasn't won in eight starts. With Liam Hendriks pitching well at Class AAA Rochester, the Twins could decide to take another look at him if De Vries continues to struggle.

Twins hitters on Wednesday believed they were set up for a good offensive day, but they ended up tipping their caps to Scherzer.

"He's got great stuff," Morneau said, "and sometimes it is hard to settle in on guys when they are misfiring under the chin and then put the next one on the black."

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com