Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider, perhaps for the first time in his career, had a notable start due to not striking out enough hitters. The start happened in the first game of a doubleheader in Citi Field Monday afternoon. Strider didn't have a terrible outing and he did strike eight Mets hitters out. We'll get to that part in a second.
Strider's final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. He exited after 107 pitches with a 6-4 lead.
He wasn't nearly as sharp as he was in his other starts this season, as the outing established new season worsts in hits and runs allowed. Still, he's now sporting a 2.57 ERA and 0.94 with 57 strikeouts in 35 innings.
This start did, however, mark the first time since he took the ball in St. Louis on Aug. 26 of last season that Strider did not strikeout at least nine hitters in a regular-season game.
The streak ends at nine. He joined an exclusive group to punch out nine hitters in at least nine straight games, but fell short of joining two of the best strikeout artists in history.
Data via Baseball Reference's Stathead:
The previous Braves record was eight, which John Smoltz did in 1997, the year after his Cy Young. That is quite the group. Ryan, of course, is the career strikeouts leader while Sale ranks first all-time in strikeouts per nine innings (11.065). Pedro is an inner-circle all-time great while Bieber's run included a Cy Young. We know plenty about Cole's strikeout prowess and Gooden's 1984-85 was one of the best two-season stretches for an individual pitcher in history.
It's a bit of a bummer that Strider fell just one strikeout short, but it's also a testament to just how hard a streak of this nature is. Kudos to Strider for making it interesting.
