Major League Baseball’s 3,500-strikeout club now has a 10th member.
The San Francisco Giants’ Justin Verlander registered three whiffs in the top of the first inning against the visiting Washington Nationals on Sunday that not only allowed the 42-year-old to escape a jam, but also to record the 3,500th strikeout of his Hall of Fame career.
After Verlander fanned Nathaniel Lowe to wriggle out of a two-on, two-out situation in the first, the three-time Cy Young Award winner earned a standing ovation as the Giants displayed a congratulatory message on the Oracle Park jumbotron.
Verlander finished the day with 3,503 strikeouts as he posted six strikeouts over five innings while allowing five runs on 11 hits. Now in his 20th season, Verlander entered Sunday’s series finale with a 263-155 record and a 3.33 ERA spread across 3,510 innings and 545 games (all starts).
He joins an exclusive club led by Nolan Ryan, who amassed 5,714 strikeouts during his 27-year career. Randy Johnson (4,875), Roger Clemens (4,672), Steve Carlton (4,136), Bert Blyleven (3,701), Tom Seaver (3,640), Don Sutton (3,574), Gaylord Perry (3,534) and Walter Johnson (3,509) also belong to the club.
Max Scherzer needs 44 strikeouts to become the 11th member of the group while Clayton Kershaw (3,017) and Chris Sale (2,528) are the only other active pitchers within 1,200 whiffs.
–Field Level Media
