Tuesday night Corey Kluber set a new career high with 14 strikeouts against the Astros. It was the third time this season he's struck out 12+ in a game. Bartolo Colon in 2000 (who also had three of them) is the only other Tribe pitcher since Dennis Eckersley was with the team in the 1970s with even two such games in the same season. Those 14 strikeouts were also the most in a game by an Indians pitcher since Colon also struck out 14 back in 1998. The last guy to top 14 was Greg Swindell in 1987.
Wesnesday night Carlos Carrasco pitched the first shutout of his career, and also the first Maddux (joining Kluber as one of just seven pitchers who've thrown a Maddux for the Tribe). In doing so Carrasco also tied the record for most strikeouts in a Maddux, with 12 of them.
The Indians have only had different pitchers each strike out 12+ in the same season only three times since the DH was introduced in 1973 (Doug Jones and Greg Swindell in 1991, Bartolo Colon and Chuck Finley in 2000, Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir in 2013).
More from Let's Go Tribe
More from Let's Go Tribe
How about back-to-back games in which a pitcher struck out at least a dozen hitters?
It'd happened only once before in franchise history, on September 18th and 20th of 1966. Sam McDowell struck out 14 Tigers in just 6 innings of work in the first of those games, and then Luis Tiant struck out 12 Twins in the team's next game, two days later.
Not only are Kluber and Carrasco only the second pair of Tribe teammates with 12+ strikeouts in consecutive games their the first pair even to accomplish it on back-to-back days and the first to accomplish it while both facing the same opponent.
Consider them the first, consider them the second, either way it's one heck of an accomplishment. I'll have more on both of those guys, and the rotation as a whole tomorrow. In the meantime, let's see if Danny Salazar can keep the streak going!