Toronto Blue Jays lefthander Eric Lauer continued his breakout campaign, pitching eight innings of one-run ball to help power his club to an 11-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.

And he did it while pitching with a fat lip.

Naturally, reporters wanted to know why Lauer had a fat lip. The Blue Jays southpaw, tongue-in-cheek, had the perfect explanation after the game.

"So, there's kind of this known thing to not mess with [Max] Scherzer on his start days," Lauer said. "Especially when he has his headphones in. And I broke that rule. I tried to talk to him a little too early. So, he wasn't very happy about that. And six stitches is what you get for that."

Well played by Lauer. Not only did he absolutely nail the joke delivery with a straight face, but he couldn't have picked better subject matter as explanation for the souvenir on his face. Scherzer, a future Hall of Famer, is known as much for his intensity on and off the mound as he is for his pitching prowess, so much so that one former Texas Rangers teammate didn't dare invade his landing space before a postseason start in the fall of 2023.

Scherzer has enough of a reputation as a pregame grump that one would almost be led to believe that this is the reason for Lauer's fat lip. Alas, Lauer declined to elaborate anymore on the condition of his face.

When a club is rolling and the vibes are good, these are the kinds of things one can expect to emerge from the clubhouse. And the vibes are definitely good in Toronto.

The Blue Jays have the best record and run differential in MLB over the course of the last month.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Blue Jays' Eric Lauer Joked About Reason for Pitching With a Fat Lip.

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