Veteran right-hander Max Scherzer will take the ball for Game 3 of the World Series on Monday when the Texas Rangers face the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
It will be the third start of the postseason for Scherzer, who missed five-plus weeks with a teres major muscle injury in his pitching shoulder before making two starts in the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros.
Scherzer (0-1, 9.45 ERA this postseason) pitched just 6 2/3 innings in the two starts, but Texas manager Bruce Bochy is confident the three-time Cy Young Award winner can pitch deeper into the game this time.
"I think so. He could give us length," Bochy said of Scherzer on Saturday. "I've talked to him about this. He's comfortable pretty much throwing like he normally does. Maybe not quite as long as he's been over 100 pitches, whatever, but pretty close."
Scherzer is 7-8 with a 3.86 ERA in 29 career postseason appearances (24 starts). He is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in three World Series starts.
Scherzer, 39, initially was a first-round draft choice by the Diamondbacks in 2006 and pitched in the majors for them in 2008-09 before being traded to the Detroit Tigers.
At Chase Field, he is 11-8 with a 3.86 ERA 29 appearances (25 starts), with 175 strikeouts in 156 1/3 innings.
Arizona previously named rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 2.70) as its Game 3 starter. Arizona has won all four of Pfaadt's starts this postseason.
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