New York Mets fans optimistic about Max Scherzer’s best start of the season: "Max looked good" "Glad to see our ace getting back to normal"

New York Mets ace Max Scherzer tossed his best start of the season on Sunday. He pitched six shutout innings against the Cleveland Guardians.

Unfortunately, Scherzer was not credited with a win. The Mets bullpen failed to hold onto New York's 3-0 lead after he was pulled from the game. However, the team rallied to claim a 5-4 victory.

Max Scherzer gave up just three hits and one walk while striking out five. He was pulled by New York Mets manager Buck Showalter after just 86 pitches due to a callus splitting open on his right thumb.

Showalter was highly complimentary of Scherzer in his postgame interview, telling reporters that his ace looked:

"Really good. Really good. He's obviously fighting through some things. He had a little cut on his finger, but he worked his way through it. He was the difference in the game"

It's been a turbulent season for Scherzer. The Mets ace was recently torched for six earned runs over 3.1 innings against the Detroit Tigers on May 3.

However, Scherzer has been trending in the right direction following his disastrous start in Motown. Against one of his former teams, the Washington Nationals, Scherzer gave up two hits and one earned run through five innings on May 14. He also struck out six batters to lead the Mets to an 8-2 win.

After shutting out the Guardians, Scherzer's ERA dropped from 4.88 to 4.01. His ERA was at 5.56 after his start against the Tigers.

Max Scherzer vital to the New York Mets' success

Max Scherzer #21 of the New York Mets warms up prior to the game

Scherzer, who is in his second season with the Mets, has been one of the league's best pitchers this century. Entering Sunday's game, he had recorded a 204-104 record, 3.13 ERA, and 1.08 WHIP over 16 MLB seasons with seven different teams. Last season, he was 11-5 with a 2.29 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 173 strikeouts.