Just How Rare Is a 14-Strikeout Start?
Yesterday, Max Scherzer and Mike Fiers each struck out 14 batters in their respective starts against the Pirates and Cubs. When such a thing happens, there’s a danger in concluding that this sort of thing must not be special, and that it happens all the time. The wiser among us — and me — know that this is still pretty rare. But just how rare? I decided to investigate.
Now, if I’m using the Baseball-Reference Play Index correctly, and lord knows I might not be, I see that in their searchable regular season database — which runs from 1914 to the present — there have been 342,540 games started. But I wanted also to eliminate those rare occasions where the starting pitcher, either through ineptitude or injury, fails to record an out. Using the “at least 1 out” criteria lops off another 1,000 or so games, so now we’re working with 341,258 games started. I also limited things to nine-inning starts, since no one cares that Tom Cheney struck out 21 batters in a 16-inning start in 1962. This actually knocked our sample down much more significantly, all the way down 309,263 starts. I feel that that is justified, otherwise not everyone is operating on the same playing field. If you disagree, feel free to let me know about it in the comments.
From there, I calculated the percentages and came up with this handy table. Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I also added in a couple of extra year-based filters to put things into further context and so that you have the freedom of choice in selecting your arguments on Scherzer’s, Fiers’, and/or any other pitcher’s behalf. After all, this is America.
| Pitcher Strikeouts Breakdown, Games Started With At Least 1 Out Recorded & 9 Innings Or Fewer | 1914-2014 | 1947-2014 | 1995-2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strikeouts | Total | Percentage | Total | Percentage | Total | Percentage |
| 0 | 26,484 | 8.564% | 14,831 | 6.323% | 3,075 | 3.565% |
| 1 | 43,611 | 14.102% | 27,980 | 11.928% | 7,743 | 8.977% |
| 2 | 51,413 | 16.624% | 36,362 | 15.502% | 11,939 | 13.842% |
| 3 | 50,630 | 16.371% | 38,611 | 16.461% | 14,036 | 16.273% |
| 4 | 43,493 | 14.063% | 34,985 | 14.915% | 13,892 | 16.106% |
| 5 | 33,734 | 10.908% | 28,481 | 12.142% | 12,004 | 13.917% |
| 6 | 23,307 | 7.536% | 20,248 | 8.632% | 8,829 | 10.236% |
| 7 | 15,422 | 4.987% | 13,693 | 5.838% | 6,119 | 7.094% |
| 8 | 9,373 | 3.031% | 8,476 | 3.613% | 3,894 | 4.515% |
| 9 | 5,389 | 1.743% | 4,921 | 2.098% | 2,117 | 2.454% |
| 10 | 3,107 | 1.005% | 2,891 | 1.232% | 1,303 | 1.511% |
| 11 | 1,590 | 0.514% | 1,474 | 0.628% | 651 | 0.755% |
| 12 | 853 | 0.276% | 802 | 0.342% | 334 | 0.387% |
| 13 | 467 | 0.151% | 442 | 0.188% | 171 | 0.198% |
| 14 | 200 | 0.065% | 188 | 0.080% | 72 | 0.083% |
| 15 | 97 | 0.031% | 91 | 0.039% | 36 | 0.042% |
| 16 | 56 | 0.018% | 55 | 0.023% | 21 | 0.024% |
| 17 | 17 | 0.005% | 15 | 0.006% | 10 | 0.012% |
| 18 | 11 | 0.004% | 10 | 0.004% | 2 | 0.002% |
| 19 | 6 | 0.002% | 6 | 0.003% | 2 | 0.002% |
| 20 | 3 | 0.001% | 3 | 0.001% | 2 | 0.002% |
Note: My look here is pretty simplistic. If you want a more detailed look, check out Neil Weinberg’s post over at Beyond the Box Score from May. It has cool graphs and junk.
One of the first things that pops out at me, besides how rare the 14-strikeout game, is that across all years, a two-strikeout game is more common than a zero- or one-strikeout game. I wouldn’t have guessed that.
We can also see that while 14-strikeout games have become ever so slightly more frequent, they aren’t even close to one percent of all games started. That’s pretty legit.
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Below, is the list of all the pitchers who managed the feat since 1995. Feast upon them.
| Pitcher Strikeouts Breakdown, Games Started With At Least 1 Out Recorded & 9 Innings Or Fewer |
|---|
| Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App/Dec | IP | H | R | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | GSc | WPA | RE24 |
| Kerry Wood | 5/6/1998 | CHC | HOU | W 2-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 1 | 20 | 122 | 84 | 105 | 0.673 | 4.742 | |||
| Roger Clemens | 9/18/1996 | BOS | DET | W 4-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 5 | 20 | 151 | 101 | 97 | 0.482 | 5.42 | |||
| Randy Johnson | 8/8/1997 | SEA | CHW | W 5-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 148 | 91 | 93 | 0.312 | 4.893 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 6/24/1997 | SEA | OAK | L 1-4 | CG 9 L | 9 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 142 | 100 | 68 | -0.021 | 0.893 | |
| Ben Sheets | 5/16/2004 | MIL | ATL | W 4-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 116 | 91 | 94 | 0.355 | 3.671 |
| Roger Clemens | 8/25/1998 | TOR | KCR | W 3-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 3 | 18 | 130 | 89 | 99 | 0.572 | 5.044 | |||
| Anibal Sanchez | 4/26/2013 | DET | ATL | W 10-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 121 | 84 | 88 | 0.195 | 4.107 | ||
| Brandon Morrow | 8/8/2010 | TOR | TBR | W 1-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 137 | 97 | 100 | 0.751 | 4.56 | ||
| Johan Santana | 8/19/2007 | MIN | TEX | W 1-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 2 | 17 | 112 | 83 | 95 | 0.593 | 4.179 | |||
| Randy Johnson | 9/14/2002 | ARI | MIL | W 5-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 126 | 86 | 96 | 0.376 | 4.954 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 4/21/2002 | ARI | COL | W 7-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 118 | 82 | 97 | 0.266 | 3.954 | |
| Curt Schilling | 4/7/2002 | ARI | MIL | W 2-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 127 | 85 | 100 | 0.705 | 4.369 | ||
| Pedro Martinez | 5/6/2000 | BOS | TBD | L 0-1 | CG 9 L | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 130 | 91 | 87 | 0.383 | 4.54 | |
| Pedro Martinez | 9/10/1999 | BOS | NYY | W 3-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 120 | 80 | 98 | 0.625 | 4.202 | |
| Randy Johnson | 6/30/1999 | ARI | CIN | L 0-2 | CG 8 L | 8 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 134 | 96 | 77 | 0.201 | 2.571 | |
| Hideo Nomo | 4/13/1996 | LAD | FLA | W 3-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 91 | 0.424 | 3.379 | ||
| Cliff Lee | 5/6/2011 | PHI | ATL | L 0-5 | GS-7 L | 7 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 117 | 87 | 62 | -0.099 | 0.233 | |
| Ricky Nolasco | 9/30/2009 | FLA | ATL | W 5-4 | GS-8 W | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 123 | 83 | 81 | 0.243 | 1.719 | |
| Jake Peavy | 4/25/2007 | SDP | ARI | L 2-3 | GS-7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 117 | 75 | 86 | 0.474 | 3.938 | ||
| Jason Schmidt | 6/6/2006 | SFG | FLA | W 2-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 124 | 81 | 84 | 0.596 | 3.863 |
| Jake Peavy | 5/22/2006 | SDP | ATL | L 1-3 | GS-7 L | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 114 | 74 | 78 | 0.067 | 1.437 |
| Mark Prior | 6/26/2003 | CHC | MIL | L 3-5 | GS-8 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 127 | 86 | 82 | 0.387 | 2.188 | |
| Randy Johnson | 8/25/2002 | ARI | CHC | W 7-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 129 | 89 | 89 | 0.513 | 4.954 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 9/27/2001 | ARI | MIL | W 13-11 | GS-7 W | 6.2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 126 | 81 | 54 | 0.124 | 1.157 |
| Randy Johnson | 8/23/2001 | ARI | PIT | L 1-5 | GS-7 L | 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 115 | 78 | 65 | -0.003 | -0.21 |
| Pedro Martinez | 4/8/2001 | BOS | TBD | W 3-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 112 | 75 | 89 | 0.493 | 4.43 | ||
| Ron Villone | 9/29/2000 | CIN | STL | W 8-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 150 | 90 | 92 | 0.281 | 4.093 | |
| Pedro Martinez | 6/4/1999 | BOS | ATL | W 5-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 114 | 78 | 91 | 0.407 | 4.519 |
| Randy Johnson | 8/28/1998 | HOU | PIT | W 2-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 7 | 16 | 133 | 101 | 89 | 0.645 | 4.51 | |||
| Kerry Wood | 8/26/1998 | CHC | CIN | W 9-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 133 | 85 | 83 | 0.256 | 2.17 |
| Curt Schilling | 9/1/1997 | PHI | NYY | W 5-1 | GS-8 W | 8 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 124 | 86 | 80 | 0.283 | 3.107 | ||
| David Wells | 7/30/1997 | NYY | OAK | W 7-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 138 | 96 | 94 | 0.215 | 4.994 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 7/18/1997 | SEA | KCR | W 5-4 | CG 9 W | 9 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 155 | 106 | 66 | 0.265 | 0.893 |
| Roger Clemens | 7/12/1997 | TOR | BOS | W 3-1 | GS-8 W | 8 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 86 | 0.419 | 3.527 | ||||
| David Cone | 6/23/1997 | NYY | DET | W 5-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 127 | 82 | 80 | 0.25 | 2.394 |
| Randy Johnson | 7/15/1995 | SEA | TOR | W 3-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 140 | 94 | 95 | 0.501 | 5.172 | ||
| Hideo Nomo | 6/14/1995 | LAD | PIT | W 8-5 | GS-8 W | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 125 | 76 | 74 | 0.249 | 1.179 | |
| Clayton Kershaw | 6/18/2014 | LAD | COL | W 8-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 15 | 107 | 79 | 102 | 0.156 | 3.857 | ||||
| Felix Hernandez | 6/8/2014 | SEA | TBR | W 5-0 | GS-7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 100 | 66 | 83 | 0.427 | 3.202 | ||
| Jon Lester | 5/3/2014 | BOS | OAK | W 6-3 | GS-8 W | 8 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 119 | 76 | 93 | 0.173 | 3.767 | ||
| Yu Darvish | 8/12/2013 | TEX | HOU | W 2-1 | GS-8 W | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 115 | 74 | 90 | 0.428 | 2.838 |
| James Shields | 10/2/2012 | TBR | BAL | L 0-1 | CG 9 L | 9 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 106 | 70 | 94 | 0.305 | 3.238 | |
| Francisco Liriano | 7/13/2012 | MIN | OAK | L 3-6 | GS-8 L | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 112 | 75 | 74 | -0.06 | -0.117 |
| Chris Sale | 5/28/2012 | CHW | TBR | W 2-1 | GS-8 W | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 115 | 80 | 81 | 0.36 | 2.519 | |
| Max Scherzer | 5/20/2012 | DET | PIT | W 4-3 | GS-7 W | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 115 | 80 | 75 | 0.09 | 1.641 |
| Jered Weaver | 4/10/2011 | LAA | TOR | W 3-1 | GS-8 W | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 125 | 77 | 78 | 0.304 | 2.272 | |
| Zack Greinke | 8/25/2009 | KCR | CLE | W 6-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 117 | 77 | 78 | 0.292 | 2.206 |
| Tim Lincecum | 7/27/2009 | SFG | PIT | W 4-2 | CG 9 W | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 115 | 80 | 87 | 0.354 | 2.57 | |
| Erik Bedard | 7/7/2007 | BAL | TEX | W 3-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 2 | 15 | 109 | 79 | 98 | 0.617 | 5.004 | |||
| Cole Hamels | 4/21/2007 | PHI | CIN | W 4-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 115 | 82 | 86 | 0.484 | 3.923 |
| John Smoltz | 4/10/2005 | ATL | NYM | L 1-6 | GS-8 L | 7.1 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 113 | 84 | 69 | -0.004 | 1.827 | |
| Randy Johnson | 7/31/2002 | ARI | MON | W 5-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 149 | 102 | 79 | 0.398 | 3.591 | |
| Mike Mussina | 9/24/2000 | BAL | BOS | W 1-0 | GS-7 W | 7 | 5 | 15 | 106 | 79 | 82 | 0.485 | 4.309 | |||
| Mike Mussina | 8/1/2000 | BAL | MIN | W 10-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 125 | 85 | 98 | 0.293 | 5.113 | ||
| Pedro Martinez | 7/23/2000 | BOS | CHW | W 1-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 6 | 15 | 131 | 95 | 90 | 0.819 | 5.54 | |||
| Pedro Martinez | 5/12/2000 | BOS | BAL | W 9-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 2 | 15 | 113 | 77 | 98 | 0.361 | 5.113 | |||
| Pedro Martinez | 9/4/1999 | BOS | SEA | W 4-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 126 | 81 | 90 | 0.463 | 4.818 | ||
| Pedro Martinez | 8/24/1999 | BOS | MIN | W 7-1 | GS-8 W | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 109 | 75 | 86 | 0.316 | 3.862 | |
| Pedro Martinez | 5/12/1999 | BOS | SEA | W 9-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 126 | 83 | 80 | 0.301 | 2.906 |
| Pedro Martinez | 5/7/1999 | BOS | ANA | W 6-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 6 | 15 | 125 | 80 | 85 | 0.418 | 4.906 | |||
| Randy Johnson | 4/10/1999 | ARI | ATL | W 8-3 | CG 9 W | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 123 | 83 | 76 | 0.162 | 1.944 |
| Roger Clemens | 9/21/1998 | TOR | BAL | W 3-1 | GS-8 W | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 133 | 87 | 76 | 0.425 | 3.483 | |
| Sterling Hitchcock | 8/29/1998 | SDP | MON | L 1-3 | GS-8 L | 8 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 103 | 73 | 73 | -0.055 | 0.758 | |
| Randy Johnson | 7/11/1998 | SEA | ANA | W 2-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 137 | 93 | 90 | 0.613 | 5.044 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 5/24/1998 | SEA | TBD | W 3-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 135 | 93 | 82 | 0.545 | 4.044 | |
| Randy Johnson | 4/10/1998 | SEA | BOS | L 7-9 | GS-8 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 132 | 78 | 82 | 0.297 | 2.615 |
| Curt Schilling | 4/5/1998 | PHI | ATL | W 2-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 128 | 87 | 87 | 0.673 | 3.601 |
| Curt Schilling | 7/21/1997 | PHI | PIT | L 2-3 | GS-8 L | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 130 | 89 | 72 | -0.009 | 1.107 |
| Randy Johnson | 6/8/1997 | SEA | DET | W 2-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 125 | 82 | 92 | 0.643 | 4.394 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 5/28/1997 | SEA | TEX | W 5-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 132 | 88 | 88 | 0.469 | 4.35 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 9/23/1995 | SEA | OAK | W 7-0 | GS-8 W | 7.1 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 127 | 80 | 82 | 0.214 | 4.01 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 6/24/1995 | SEA | CAL | W 3-2 | CG 9 W | 9 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 134 | 89 | 81 | 0.488 | 3.172 | |
| Chuck Finley | 5/23/1995 | CAL | NYY | W 10-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 144 | 85 | 96 | 0.256 | 5.073 | ||
| Yu Darvish | 2013-05-27 (2) | TEX | ARI | L 4-5 | GS-8 | 7.2 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 116 | 83 | 63 | -0.197 | -0.478 | |
| Oliver Perez | 2004-09-09 (1) | PIT | HOU | W 3-1 | GS-8 W | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 114 | 80 | 87 | 0.431 | 3.107 | |
| Curt Schilling | 1998-08-20 (1) | PHI | ARI | W 11-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 126 | 87 | 87 | 0.2 | 3.692 | |
| Mike Fiers | 8/14/2014 | MIL | CHC | W 6-2 | GS-6 W | 6 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 106 | 71 | 79 | 0.211 | 2.731 | ||
| Max Scherzer | 8/14/2014 | DET | PIT | W 5-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 121 | 81 | 88 | 0.507 | 4.036 | ||
| Jose Fernandez | 4/22/2014 | MIA | ATL | W 1-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 3 | 14 | 109 | 77 | 90 | 0.599 | 3.534 | |||
| Cliff Lee | 9/16/2013 | PHI | MIA | W 12-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 113 | 84 | 72 | 0.16 | 1.579 | ||
| Jose Fernandez | 8/2/2013 | MIA | CLE | W 10-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 108 | 75 | 89 | 0.199 | 3.614 | ||
| Yu Darvish | 8/1/2013 | TEX | ARI | W 7-1 | GS-7 W | 7 | 5 | 14 | 111 | 78 | 81 | 0.273 | 3.524 | |||
| Chris Sale | 6/14/2013 | CHW | HOU | L 1-2 | CG 8 L | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 124 | 85 | 79 | 0.071 | 1.838 | |
| Yu Darvish | 5/5/2013 | TEX | BOS | W 4-3 | GS-7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 127 | 78 | 69 | 0.033 | 0.524 |
| Yu Darvish | 4/2/2013 | TEX | HOU | W 7-0 | GS-9 W | 8.2 | 1 | 14 | 111 | 78 | 96 | 0.447 | 4.097 | |||
| Justin Verlander | 8/6/2012 | DET | NYY | W 7-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 132 | 96 | 73 | 0.118 | 2.162 | |
| Yovani Gallardo | 7/15/2012 | MIL | PIT | W 4-1 | GS-7 W | 7 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 108 | 71 | 79 | 0.232 | 2.492 | |
| Matt Cain | 6/13/2012 | SFG | HOU | W 10-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 14 | 125 | 86 | 101 | 0.124 | 3.808 | ||||
| Dan Haren | 5/24/2012 | LAA | SEA | W 3-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 4 | 14 | 126 | 83 | 93 | 0.451 | 4.097 | |||
| Anibal Sanchez | 4/28/2012 | MIA | ARI | W 3-2 | GS-7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 110 | 66 | 73 | 0.064 | 1.398 | |
| David Price | 8/28/2011 | TBR | TOR | W 12-0 | GS-7 W | 7 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 111 | 75 | 83 | 0.21 | 3.649 | ||
| Roy Halladay | 8/16/2011 | PHI | ARI | L 2-3 | CG 9 L | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 122 | 89 | 72 | -0.251 | 1.157 | |
| CC Sabathia | 7/26/2011 | NYY | SEA | W 4-1 | GS-7 W | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 102 | 71 | 82 | 0.159 | 1.874 | |
| Justin Verlander | 6/25/2011 | DET | ARI | W 6-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 119 | 84 | 87 | 0.287 | 4.09 | ||
| Tommy Hanson | 6/12/2011 | ATL | HOU | W 4-1 | GS-7 W | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 112 | 79 | 79 | 0.308 | 2.139 | |
| Roy Halladay | 4/24/2011 | PHI | SDP | W 3-1 | GS-9 W | 8.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 130 | 94 | 83 | 0.365 | 2.433 | |
| Bud Norris | 8/14/2010 | HOU | PIT | W 3-2 | GS-7 W | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 110 | 74 | 72 | 0.106 | 1.312 |
| Stephen Strasburg | 6/8/2010 | WSN | PIT | W 5-2 | GS-7 W | 7 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 94 | 65 | 75 | 0.12 | 1.382 | |
| Max Scherzer | 5/30/2010 | DET | OAK | W 10-2 | GS-6 W | 5.2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 113 | 75 | 75 | 0.237 | 2.6 | ||
| Roy Halladay | 6/2/2009 | TOR | LAA | W 6-4 | CG 9 W | 9 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 133 | 88 | 70 | 0.385 | 0.883 | |
| John Maine | 9/29/2007 | NYM | FLA | W 13-0 | GS-8 W | 7.2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 115 | 68 | 89 | 0.14 | 3.89 | ||
| Kelvim Escobar | 6/12/2007 | LAA | CIN | L 3-5 | GS-6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 116 | 78 | 63 | -0.006 | 0.282 | |
| Brad Penny | 5/7/2007 | LAD | FLA | W 6-1 | GS-7 W | 7 | 5 | 14 | 110 | 76 | 81 | 0.223 | 3.571 | |||
| Jake Peavy | 9/2/2006 | SDP | CIN | W 7-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 114 | 77 | 91 | 0.339 | 3.419 |
| Curt Schilling | 9/21/2004 | BOS | BAL | W 3-2 | GS-8 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 114 | 90 | 89 | 0.595 | 4.756 | ||
| Johan Santana | 9/19/2004 | MIN | BAL | W 5-1 | GS-8 W | 8 | 7 | 14 | 103 | 78 | 82 | 0.49 | 4.58 | |||
| A.J. Burnett | 8/29/2004 | FLA | COL | W 8-4 | GS-8 W | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 108 | 73 | 80 | 0.156 | 2.946 | |
| Jeremy Bonderman | 8/23/2004 | DET | CHW | W 7-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 114 | 82 | 86 | 0.282 | 4.752 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 8/20/2004 | ARI | CIN | L 0-2 | GS-8 L | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 122 | 77 | 76 | 0.151 | 1.555 | |
| Randy Johnson | 8/15/2004 | ARI | NYM | W 2-0 | GS-9 W | 8.1 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 119 | 88 | 86 | 0.529 | 4.049 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 7/25/2004 | ARI | COL | L 2-3 | GS-8 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 112 | 81 | 84 | 0.571 | 4.358 | |||
| Mark Prior | 9/21/2003 | CHC | PIT | W 4-1 | GS-8 W | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 131 | 91 | 75 | 0.248 | 2.432 | |
| Curt Schilling | 8/22/2003 | ARI | CHC | L 1-4 | GS-8 L | 8 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 103 | 81 | 68 | -0.068 | 0.474 | |
| Wade Miller | 5/30/2003 | HOU | CHC | W 9-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 105 | 76 | 92 | 0.207 | 3.712 |
| Curt Schilling | 5/14/2003 | ARI | PHI | W 2-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 106 | 75 | 96 | 0.609 | 4.329 | ||
| Javier Vazquez | 4/9/2003 | MON | CHC | L 0-3 | GS-7 L | 7 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 96 | 66 | 73 | 0.052 | 1.664 | |
| Randy Johnson | 8/10/2002 | ARI | FLA | W 9-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 125 | 83 | 76 | 0.281 | 2.403 |
| Pedro Martinez | 7/1/2002 | BOS | TOR | W 4-0 | GS-8 W | 8 | 7 | 14 | 117 | 83 | 82 | 0.383 | 4.483 | |||
| Curt Schilling | 5/3/2002 | ARI | MON | W 6-3 | GS-7 W | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 103 | 74 | 68 | 0.115 | 0.853 |
| Randy Johnson | 7/24/2001 | ARI | SDP | W 11-0 | GS-8 W | 7.1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 114 | 69 | 88 | 0.379 | 4.241 | ||
| Randy Johnson | 6/3/2001 | ARI | SDP | W 8-4 | GS-6 W | 6 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 106 | 72 | 58 | 0.008 | -0.591 | |
| Kerry Wood | 5/25/2001 | CHC | MIL | W 1-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 114 | 73 | 97 | 0.741 | 4.49 | ||
| Hideo Nomo | 5/25/2001 | BOS | TOR | W 4-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 1 | 14 | 117 | 77 | 99 | 0.626 | 4.984 | |||
| Greg Maddux | 5/2/2001 | ATL | MIL | W 1-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 109 | 76 | 96 | 0.773 | 4.873 | ||
| Kerry Wood | 4/27/2001 | CHC | SFG | W 7-3 | GS-6 W | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 112 | 66 | 67 | 0.101 | -0.067 |
| Randy Johnson | 4/13/2001 | ARI | COL | W 7-3 | GS-7 W | 7 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 127 | 88 | 67 | 0.204 | 1.488 | |
| Chan Ho Park | 8/29/2000 | LAD | MIL | W 7-2 | GS-8 W | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 129 | 82 | 83 | 0.218 | 2.35 |
| Randy Johnson | 8/31/1999 | ARI | MON | L 1-2 | GS-8 L | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 110 | 76 | 81 | 0.112 | 2.483 |
| Shane Reynolds | 8/15/1999 | HOU | PIT | L 0-2 | CG 9 L | 9 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 104 | 77 | 83 | 0.212 | 2.944 | |
| Pedro Martinez | 7/7/1999 | BOS | TBD | L 2-3 | CG 8 L | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 130 | 88 | 68 | 0.009 | 1.721 | |
| Randy Johnson | 6/25/1999 | ARI | STL | L 0-1 | CG 9 L | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 123 | 84 | 85 | 0.299 | 4.044 | |
| Randy Johnson | 6/9/1999 | ARI | CHC | W 8-7 | GS-7 W | 7 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 132 | 89 | 44 | 0.05 | -1.095 |
| Randy Johnson | 9/7/1998 | HOU | CIN | W 1-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 129 | 94 | 88 | 0.734 | 4.51 | ||
| Darryl Kile | 8/20/1998 | COL | MON | W 6-3 | GS-7 W | 7 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 130 | 88 | 58 | 0.118 | 0.508 |
| Roger Clemens | 8/2/1998 | TOR | MIN | W 6-4 | GS-8 W | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 115 | 79 | 77 | 0.321 | 2.571 | |
| David Cone | 6/7/1998 | NYY | FLA | W 4-1 | CG 9 W | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 120 | 83 | 91 | 0.378 | 3.944 | |
| Bartolo Colon | 5/29/1998 | CLE | TOR | W 7-3 | CG 9 W | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 121 | 80 | 77 | 0.232 | 2.044 | |
| Roger Clemens | 9/7/1997 | TOR | TEX | W 4-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 2 | 14 | 137 | 91 | 97 | 0.411 | 4.944 | |||
| Randy Johnson | 7/13/1997 | SEA | TEX | L 2-4 | GS-7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 131 | 83 | 68 | 0.185 | 1.806 | |
| Mike Mussina | 7/5/1997 | BAL | DET | L 5-6 | GS-8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 127 | 79 | 60 | -0.011 | 0.45 |
| Jeff Juden | 7/1/1997 | MON | TOR | W 2-1 | GS-9 W | 8.1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 114 | 71 | 87 | 0.465 | 3.378 |
| Pedro Martinez | 6/14/1997 | MON | DET | W 1-0 | SHO9 W | 9 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 136 | 94 | 93 | 0.747 | 4.57 | ||
| Roger Clemens | 5/10/1997 | TOR | MIN | W 6-4 | GS-7 W | 7 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 113 | 75 | 59 | 0.082 | -0.116 | |
| Jason Bere | 6/28/1995 | CHW | MIN | W 4-3 | GS-9 W | 8.1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 143 | 96 | 71 | 0.232 | 1.916 | |
| Hideo Nomo | 5/17/1995 | LAD | PIT | L 2-3 | GS-7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 107 | 62 | 84 | 0.395 | 3.289 |
Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.
“no one cares that Tom Cheney struck out 21 batters in a 16-inning start in 1962”? That to me (both the K’s and the IP’s) is way more impressive than 14 K’s in 9 IP.
Also: the dates don’t sort right.
Agreed. Looking at the dates, am I wrong, or is all of those 14+ K games post 1994 Strike era.
So 21 K’s in a 16 inning affair is even more impressive considering pitchers were never getting big K games back then in 9 innings.
I’m an Idiot. Post 1995 says right above. Mea Cupla
He had 1 K in first 2 innings, then 16 K’s over the next 9 innings, then 4 K’s over the last 5 innings.
Pedro did it in back to back starts twice, Randy Johnson three times. Wow.
Imo, the percentages really need to reflect 14 or more K’s in a game.
2004: Ben Sheets 18k, Lyle Overbay playing 1B
2010: Brandon Morrow 14k, Lyle Overbay playing 1B
2014: Mike Fiers 14k, Lyle Overbay playing 1B
Definitely not a coincidence
Damn. Randy Johnson.
Only guy to strike out 16+ in that list while giving up 4+ runs. And he did it 4 times. (Including a game with 16ks in 6 2/3 innings, or K’s accounting for 16/20 outs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stUolWxG3wo – This is why
Awesome! I forgot how much fun watching home runs used to be.
A thought for an article in the future, maybe: games with the highest % of strikes?
I can’t imagine anyone ever had 100%, but some of the games above stand out – Ben Sheets with 91 strikes in 116 pitches, while striking out 16… with a walk.
Take out that walk and it gets really insane.
Articles like these always make me think of ATL’s back-to-back games of offensive futility in 2004. With the cutoff set at 14 K, Randy Johnson’s 13 K perfect game following Sheets’s 18 K performance just misses the cut.
In one of two Randy Johnson 19 strikeout games, he gave up 11(!) hits and 4 runs. What was going on that day?
Mark McGwire happened. I believe he had all 4 RBI and he hit a ball off of the back wall of the Kingdome in left field. It had to be at least 500 feet. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Also, there was a foul tip in the top of the 9th that Dan Wilson couldn’t hang on to that would have given Randy 20 K’s.
I can’t believe the pitch counts! 9 > 140 and 2 > = 150!! I can’t see that happening again anytime soon in MLB.
Re: Pitch Counts. Off the top of my head Edwin Jackson got up to 149 in 2010 during his no-hitter. 79 strikes vs. 70 balls. He had 7 walks in the first 3 innings and won a 1-0 game.
Interesting how there are close to half as many games going from 10 to 11 strikeouts, and from 11-12, and 12-13. There’s a slight drop-off at 14, suggesting that’s a hard one to get, but then the pattern re-emerges from 14-15, 15-16, and 16-17. At that point, we’re basically in single digits, and patterns are useless.
You don’t seem to have Randy Johnson’s 20 strikeout game from May 8, 2001. The game did go into extra innings but Johnson only pitched nine [http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI200105080.shtml]. My understanding (which could very easily be wrong) was that you eliminated starts of more than nine innings, not games of more than nine.
I was wondering why throwing the extra inning starts eliminated so many starts. This seems plausible.
How about expanding to include all 9+ inning games where the pitcher recorded more than half the outs by k? 16 out of 30 is slightly more impressive than 14 out of 27.
There’s also the question of 13 k 8 inning complete games where there was no need for the bottom of the 9th, but ah well.
If you sort by name, you get Pedro and Randy Johnson back to back. Pedro has plenty himself, and Johnson nearly takes up a whole page by himself. Always interesting to look at those two guys by himself.
edit: together, not “by himself.”
Don’t know what happened there.
Randy loved striking fools out