Max Scherzer equaled Major League’s nine-innings record of 20 strikeouts on Wednesday, leading the Washington Nationals past Detroit Tigers 3-2. There were a handful of people around, a couple photographers, a few reporters, the rest still inside the Nationals clubhouse, gathering quote after quote from his current teammates about the domination he displayed against his former teammates in a complete game win over the Detroit Tigers. He threw 119 pitches, 96 strikes – a ball-to-strikeout ratio of almost 1 to 1. He got 20 strikeouts.
Advertisement
The 2013 AL Cy Young Award victor gave up a leadoff homer to J.D. Martinez in the ninth, then blew a 156 kph fastball by slugger Miguel Cabrera for strikeout No. 19. He struck out Cabrera all three times swinging at high-velocity fastballs, on 10 total pitches. The two that he did were the two home runs, really.
Scherzer gets the chance to break that record set by a fellow D.C. pitcher on Tuesday in NY against the Mets.
Scherzer had a chance to break the mark when James McCann stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning. This, as you may know, ties a record.
“Mad Max” dominated the Tigers batting lineup with 20 strikeouts – not an easy feat when the Tigers boast sluggers such as Ian Kinsler, Jose Iglesias and former Triple Crown victor, Miguel Cabrera.
Scherzer pitched all nine innings for the Nats and his 20 strikeouts on Wednesday ties the Major League record for most in a single game.
Tom Cheney set the league record for 21 strikeouts in 1962 with the Washington Senators, but that was over 16 innings. He joined the ranks of Randy Johnson, Kerry Wood and Roger Clemens, who accomplished the feat twice. Scherzer proved to himself and to the Tigers that he’s worth every penny that he got from the Nationals.
Zimmermann stumbled out of the gate, allowing a run on three hits in the first inning, but settled from there, allowing just a walk and a hit until the sixth inning, when Daniel Murphy broke a 1-1 tie with a RBI single.
Nationals starter Max Scherzer struck out the Tigers’ first two batters of the fifth inning.
Even more important was the strength of Scherzer’s fastball.
After striking out the side in the eighth, all on called strikes, Scherzer was up to 18 on 106 pitches, with the Nationals holding a two-run lead.
Advertisement
Scherzer threw 119 pitches, 96 of them for strikes. It quickly evolved into one of the more brilliant pitching performances in Nationals history, Scherzer’s most impressive outing of the season, performance in which he shook off a seven-run battering in his last start to look as dominant as he has since his no-hitter last September.
