Max Scherzer gets the starting signal for Game 3 of the World Series

The Toronto Blue Jays‘ 18-year veteran right-hander Max Scherzer will start Game 3 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night at Dodger Stadium. Manager John Schneider confirmed the decision Saturday, also names Shane Bieber as the starter for Tuesday’s Game 4.

Scherzer will make his 500th career start during the regular season and postseason combined as the series moves to Los Angeles. The three-time Cy Young Award winner made his last appearance in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, pitching 5⅔ innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking four and striking out five to help Toronto win. That outing was his only postseason appearance of the year after being left off the ALDS roster.

In his first season with the Blue Jays, Scherzer went 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA and 1.294 WHIP in 17 starts, recording 82 strikeouts. A two-time World Series champion, Scherzer holds a 1-0 record and 3.26 ERA in four career World Series starts, totaling 19 strikeouts in 19⅓ innings.

The appearance will also be a reunion of sorts for the 41-year-old, who made 11 starts for the Dodgers in 2021, posting a .619 OPS in 109⅔ career innings against Los Angeles. The Dodgers, meanwhile, will face Tyler Glasnow in Game 3 and Shohei Ohtani in Game 4.

Shane Bieber, who will fight after Scherzer, has been equally valuable this postseason. The 30-year-old righty, a former Cy Young winner, owns a 1-0 record with a 4.38 ERA, 15 strikeouts and three walks in 12⅓ innings this postseason. Bieber last pitched in Game 7 of the ALCS, allowing two runs over 3⅔ innings against Seattle.

Toronto currently leads the series 1-0 against the defending champions after an 11-4 loss in Friday’s openertheir first World Series appearance since 1993. They will face off again on Saturday, with veteran Kevin Gausman starting for the Blue Jays against Yoshinobu Yamamoto at Rogers Center at 8:00 PM EST.