DETROIT — Clint Hurdle knows his team can give almost every pitcher in baseball a good challenge.

Max Scherzer doesn’t happen to be one of them, at least the way he was throwing the ball Thursday afternoon.

Scherzer struck out 14 batters in eight shutout innings, leading the Tigers to a 5-2 victory over Hurdle’s Pirates.

“He pitched like a Cy Young winner,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “The volume of pitches that he can throw and command is impressive. I think there’s 29 teams in this league that could find a spot for him at the top of their rotation.”

Hurdle’s counterpart in the Detroit dugout was just as impressed, especially when Scherzer struck out eight batters in the first three innings.

“I’ve been the victim of two 20-strikeout games, and when he started out that fast, I was starting to wonder if he could put up a huge total,” said Ausmus, who faced Roger Clemens in his 1996 20-K game and Kerry Wood two years later. “He was making pitches that looked like the ones Kerry was throwing that day.”

Scherzer also knew a big number was possible, but he didn’t care about records.

“I was thinking about it, but not for the reason you probably think,” he said. “When I’m getting that many strikeouts early, it means I’m throwing all four of my pitches, I’m getting hitters into the kill-zone counts and I’m putting them away. When that’s happening, I know I’m probably going to have a good day.”

Scherzer (14-4) took another step toward a second straight American League Cy Young Award, holding Pittsburgh to three hits and two walks. Since June 22, Scherzer is 6-1 in 10 starts with a 1.78 ERA and 85 strikeouts. He’s allowed 52 hits.

“I had everything working today,” he said. “I was able throw everything to both sides of the plate, and I could put my curve down and in, which makes me a lot more effective. Right now, I’ve got things going really well.”

Scherzer’s performance and a homer from J.D. Martinez gave the Tigers a much-needed sweep of the short two-game series and a split of the four games in the home-and-home series that started Monday in Pittsburgh.

Francisco Liriano (3-9) took a tough loss for Pittsburgh, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out nine, but wasn’t able to match Scherzer’s brilliance.

The Tigers broke the game open in the eighth, scoring one run on a throwing error by Michael Martinez before Nick Castellanos added a two-run single. That became important when Gaby Sanchez hit a 2-run homer off Phil Coke in the ninth.

Neil Walker has missed 11 of the last 12 games with back tightness, but Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said he isn’t heading for the DL. Walker was on the on-deck circle as a pinch hitter when Thursday’s game ended.