Despite a valiant effort by starting pitcher Max Scherzer on Wednesday, the Toronto Blue Jays were eliminated from playoff contention by the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

Scherzer went five innings, giving up four earned runs. He walked three and struck out seven, but the Jays ultimately lost 4-2 to fall to 77-81.

One year after getting within one inning of the World Series, the Jays will be watching the playoffs at home for the second time in three years. They also missed the playoffs in 2024, and even if they win their final four games, they cannot finish over .500.

The tough day for the team turned out to be a momentous day for Scherzer, who reached the 3,550 career strikeout mark. With that mark, he's now four back of Justin Verlander for eighth all-time.

Verlander, his former teammate with the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets, is slated to make one last start in his career on Saturday, so he'll have a chance to add a few more to his total. Scherzer is scheduled to start on Sunday and can try to pass him.

Though Scherzer doesn't need to make that start, he says he wants to. The additional strikeout opportunities and a chance to climb up in history are likely nice, but it seems like the motivation for Scherzer is just to go out and pitch one more time this season. He said after the game he wants to pitch in front of the Blue Jays fans and that he'll have more to say about his future in the coming days. It's unclear if he'll retire or come back for a 20th season.

A 19-year veteran of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tigers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mets, Texas Rangers and Blue Jays, Scherzer has gone 224-126 for his career. An eight-time All-Star, he's also a three-time Cy Young winner and a two-time World Series champion (2019, 2023). He's led his league in wins in four different seasons and reached the 20-win mark twice. He also led his league in complete games three times and innings twice. He led in strikeouts three times, also hitting the 300 mark in 2018.

The Blue Jays will meet the Orioles again in Game 2 on Wednesday before an off day on Thursday. They'll finish the season out with a three-game series at home over the weekend against the Cincinnati Reds.