Spencer Strider was light out for the Braves last night, flirting with the first 20 strikeout game by a rookie since Kerry Wood did it in 1998.
Spencer Strider Strikes Out 16
In the midst of some pretty good college football games last night, I noticed that Spencer Strider was at 14 strikeouts through seven innings, so I flipped over to the Braves-Rockies game on MLB.TV. Admittedly, I was the jinx, as the first hitter that Strider faced after I tuned in ended up being a ground out, ending the possibility that Strider could have himself a Kerry Wood performance.
Still, Strider would strike out the next two Rockies hitters and end his night with 16 strikeouts over eight innings of work, an Atlanta Braves record.
Strider broke the Atlanta-era franchise record with 16 strikeouts in eight innings while limiting the Rockies to two hits and no walks. In just his 17th career start, Strider broke the Atlanta franchise record of 15 strikeouts, done twice by Hall of Famer John Smoltz.
“He was beyond electric tonight,” said Braves third baseman Austin Riley. “It was fun to play behind him; I tell you that. The confidence he has when he goes out there — he’s on the attack, I think that’s the biggest thing.
“When guys have electric stuff like that, they try to blow it by hitters. I feel like tonight he got a couple of first-pitch swings and outs, and that allowed him to go deep in the game. And the strikeouts were pretty incredible.”
Strider is having a Rookie of the Year caliber season with a 9-4 record, 2.67 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 174 strikeouts (13.7 K/9). Strider is one of nine MLB pitchers with at least 4.0 fWAR this season, and he’s finding his names among the greats of yesteryear.
Check out this stat from Sarah Langs:
Strider was in such a zone on Thursday night that he didn’t even know that he was flirting with history until it was over.
“I lost track after five (innings),” Strider said. “I came out of the game, and Kyle was telling me something about John Smoltz or whatever, and I had no idea what he was talking about. It didn’t make any sense. So somebody else said something, and I just kind of looked cross-eyed at them, and they said, ‘You know what just happened?’ So it was neat. It was very cool for them to tell me that. I’m very grateful to have done that.”
Bradish Stymies Cleveland
Strider wasn’t the only rookie pitcher who was dealing last night. Orioles’ rookie Kyle Bradish had himself a night in Cleveland. Bradish fired off seven scoreless innings for Baltimore while allowing two hits and striking out five.
Bradish became the first starter in Orioles history to record consecutive scoreless outings of at least seven innings. More impressive, he accomplished the feat against the Astros and Guardians, two AL playoff contenders.
Last Friday, I wrote about the Orioles’ weekend series with Baltimore, one that would make or break their Postseason hopes, and they answered the call by taking two of three from Houston. They continued to prove that they’re for real by taking two of three from Cleveland this week.
Kyle Bradish said after last night’s victory that this past week should put the rest of the league on notice.
“It just puts everyone on notice that we’re for real this year,” Bradish said. “We’re gonna come in and play everybody hard. Doesn’t matter who you are.”
Sitting at 69-61 and just a game and a half behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot in the American League, the Orioles open a three-game series at home with Oakland tonight. If the O’s take care of business against the A’s this weekend, they’ll be in a position to jump Toronto when they play them four times next week.
Mets Top Dodgers In Battle of NL’s Best
The 90-win Dodgers entered their series with the Mets this week having not lost a series since late July, but the Mets made sure to end that streak as they took two of three from Los Angeles in a battle of the two best teams in the NL.
“They’re a really good team,” Edwin Díaz said of the Dodgers. “We showed them we have a really good team, too.”
That they did, Edwin Díaz answered the bell early, coming into the game in the eighth inning to face the heart of the Dodgers order in a tight ballgame, which Díaz has frequently done for the Mets this season. Díaz delivered by pinching out Gavin Lux with a 103 mph heater to end the eighth inning.
New York is now 36 games over .500 for the second time this season and is on pace to punch their ticket to October by mid-month.