NY Mets right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks with a strained oblique muscle in his left side.  Scherzer had an MRI on Thursday, one day after he pulled himself from a start against the St. Louis Cardinals with a 1-1 count on Albert Pujols in the sixth inning after feeling “a zing” in his left side. New York said the MRI detected a moderate-to-high grade strain.

The 37-year-old, three-time Cy Young Award winner is 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA in eight starts. The eight-time All-Star has struck out 59 and walked 11 in 49 2/3 innings. Scherzer recently signed a $130 million, three-year contract with the team.  Said Mets manager Buck Showalter: “He’s been pitching with a blister issue, the thing with the baseball — the seams are different. That’s one of the reasons why he really struggled with his breaking ball, to command it, because he was trying to keep from ripping that open again.”

The Mets began the day with a six-game lead in the NL East.  Losing Scherzer is the latest blow to a New York pitching staff already missing ace Jacob deGrom. DeGrom has been out since spring training because of a right scapula stress reaction, and he is not likely to pitch for the Mets until late June or July at the earliest. Tylor Megill also went on the 15-day injured list Sunday with right biceps inflammation. In addition, catcher James McCann is sidelined until late June or early July while recovering from a broken hamate in his left wrist, and relievers Sean Reid-Foley (Tommy John surgery) and Trevor May (right triceps inflammation) are also injured.

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