A Master At Work
Sometimes you just sit back and watch a master work. You take in his brilliance, the scope of his achievement and you find that you are not so much watching as staring in disbelief.
So it was on Wednesday night when Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer tied a major league record with 20 strikeouts in nine innings in a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
The numbers are staggering. In the first six innings (that’s 18 outs, for those of you keeping score at home), he struck out 13 batters and got six of those on three pitches. You can’t be much more efficient than that.
He went into the ninth inning with 18 and would have had to strike out the side again (he did it in the eighth inning) to break the record held by such luminaries as Roger Clemens (who did it twice), Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson. He gave up a lead-off home run, got a strikeout, gave up a single, fanned another batter and then induced a weak groundout to end the game.
Oddly, the record for strikeouts in a game was set by another Washington pitcher – Tom Cheney of the old Senators. He punched out 21 over 16 innings in 1962. He needed 228 pitches to do it; Scherzer threw 119 and got five of the last six outs on strikeouts.
Amazing performance. For another reason as well. In his last outing, Scherzer gave up four home runs. On this night he struck out five individual batters three times each.
Way to go. Way to throw.
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman
-
Negative pushback prompted the team to give the role to someone else. Recently, the Brooklyn Nets have been in...
-
The Bears got Claypool in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick. This week, the Pittsburgh Steelers cut a deal...
-
Belichick has cycled through several players in search of the right one. Recently, the New England Patriots have been...
-
The field needs new posts after overzealous fans dumped the old ones in the river. Over the weekend, the...
-
Hutchinson grew up idolizing the Patriots and Tom Brady. This Sunday, the Detroit Lions are scheduled to take on...
-
Judge has broken Babe Ruth’s record and tied with Roger Maris. Last week, New York Yankees center fielder and...
-
Judge is one homer away from beating the Bambino’s record. Babe Ruth, AKA The Great Bambino, AKA The Sultan...
-
Trout is one homer off from an MLB record. Last night, the Los Angeles Angels played the Cleveland Guardians....
-
Jones spoke about the new offense at their training camp. The New England Patriots are currently in the midst...
-
A fight broke out on the last day of joint practice. Thursday was the last day of joint practice...
-
Donaldson clinched the game for his team in extra innings. Wednesday night saw a major nail-biter game between the...
-
The Yankees have landed two impressive players from the Oakland Athletics. The New York Yankees, superstars of the American...