Another day, another record to show the modern way of how baseball is played. New York Mets pitchers struck out a whopping 26 Atlanta Braves hitters on Friday night in 14 innings, tying a Major League record. They also lost the game, 2-1 on Billy Hamilton’s winning RBI single in the top of the 14th.
Jacob deGrom led the effort, striking out 13 in seven innings of work. And the bullpen matched those 13 Ks over the next seven innings. But the Braves’ pitchers also were getting outs, if not as many strikeouts, and eventually first-place Atlanta won a big game 2-1.
#Mets strikeouts:
-Set a franchise mark with 26 K last night.
-1 of 4 teams to produce 26 K in a game.
-Mets and #RedSox are now the only 2 franchises with multiple games of at least 24 K.— Michael Baron (@michaelgbaron) August 24, 2019
DeGrom da greatest
DeGrom set forth a pitching performance for the ages. Actually, make that just a performance for the ages. Besides his 13-strikeout, four-hit outing in seven innings, he also provided the Mets their only run with a solo homer in the sixth.
But he left with the score tied 1-1. Then the Mets’ bullpen came in and kept the effort up, with six relievers combining for 10 strikeouts over the next six innings.
Jacob deGrom is the 1st pitcher in MLB history to hit a HR and strike out 13+ batters TWICE in the same season. He also did it April 3.
(h/t: @EliasSports)
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 24, 2019
A sour ending
Jeurys Familia was called upon in the 14th. He struck out the side to tie the record with 26 strikeouts, shared with four other teams. But he also gave up the go-ahead run on an RBI single from Billy Hamilton, whom the Braves picked up mostly as a pinch runner/defensive replacement earlier in the week.
Ultimately, it was a sour ending for the Mets, who couldn’t mount a rally in the bottom of the 14th and fell two games out of the wild-card race.
Oddly enough, they’re not the first team to strike out 26 in a game and lose. The 2004 Angels did it against the Brewers in a 17-inning game and also lost.
Most team strikeouts in a game (MLB history):
1971 A’s vs Angels 26 (20 innings)
2004 Angels vs Brewers 26 (17 innings)
2017 Yankees vs Cubs 26 (18 innings)
2017 Dodgers vs Brewers 26 (12 innings)
2019 Mets vs Braves 26 (14 innings)2004 Angels & 2019 Mets only teams to lose
— Marc Weber (@MarcWeberSports) August 24, 2019
