In the eight games completed so far on Wednesday, ten of the sixteen teams struck out at least ten times. The record for a day since the mound was lowered in 1969 is 17, set last year on June 2, 2018. It’s happened eight times that 16 teams recorded at least ten K, and six of those happened in 2018. With six games left on the day, there might be a shot at the record.
The Yankees struck out 18 times against the Tigers, 13 times against starter Matthew Boyd. Boyd isn’t exactly a strikeout pitcher. He’s never pitched a season at the major league level in which his strikeouts exceeded his innings. This year, however, he now recorded 23 K in 11 1/3 innings. Based on his first start, he appears to have de-emphasized his sinker and change up in favor of his four-seam fastball. We’ll see if that holds up when FanGraphs updates tomorrow morning.
Update: Both the Mets and Marlins have struck out 10 times in the their game, bringing the total to 12.
Update: Jacob deGrom tied a record in the game:
MLB.com
With his 26th consecutive quality start, reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom matched legendary Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson’s streak (1967-68) on Wednesday, tying a Major League record. deGrom was tied with Eddie Cicotte (1916-1917).
Here is deGrom’s streak. I count just two starts with the bare minimum three runs allowed, six inning pitched. His ERA in the stretch is well below two. Note that Gibson recorded his streak in the last major low scoring era. It was Gibson domination that helped lead to the lowering of the mound in 1969. (There is a game in the streak in which Gibson allowed five runs, three earned. I thought quality starts depended on runs, not earned runs.)
Update: Cubs batters get to 10 K, bringing the total teams to 13.
Update: Rangers get to 10, and the total teams are now 14.
Update: Dodgers get to ten, and the total for the night is 15.