The strikeout is often the ultimate goal of a pitcher. Sure, sometimes they'd prefer a double play grounder, but they don't sit in the stands and count the amount of DP balls, they hang Ks to count how dominating the starter is. It's the most futile solo act for a batter. You didn't put the ball in play, couldn't move a runner over or contribute in any meaningful way. When an opposing pitcher really racks up the Ks against your team, it shows how absolutely dominat they were. And when the Starter hands the ball off to the bullpen, then it shows just how bad your team is that day. Hard to win when upwards of 20 guys essentially give out free outs to the opposition.
Enter the New York Mets. They have had a bit of a rough history when it comes to strikeout pitchers. They've famously traded away for cheap the greatest strikeout man in history when they sent Nolan Ryan packing as well as Tom Seaver not long after. Their reputation for ruining pitchers is quite alarming as well as names like Matt Harvey cause Met fans to change the topic of conversation. But some guys who suit up for Queens do have bright moments and seasons, and in 2019 Jacob deGrom was having one of those great seasons.
On Friday, August 23, 2019, the Mets sent their defending Cy Young winner (and that years winner as well) to the mound for a home night game against their bitter division rival: the Atlanta Braves. At the time the Mets were fighting to stay north of .500 while the Braves were on their way to a division title, but some rivalries are such that it doesn't matter where you are in the standings, you bring your A game when the rival arrives to play.
On this night the Braves opposed deGrom with a lineup comprised of 2 all stars, 3 Silver Slugger winners that year and 3 men who all finished in the top 11 of that years MVP voting. They could barely muster a response to an overpowering deGrom, and when he handed the ball to the bullpen after 13 Strikeouts in 7 innings of work Seth Lugo followed with 2 shutout innings with 4 more Strikeouts. There was a problem, however. After 9 innings, the game was tied 1-1. As the extra innings ticked by, the Mets kept adding to their Strikeout total, but the offense refused to help out. In the 14th inning, Jeurys Familia got all 3 outs on the Strikeout...but he allowed 2 Walks and 2 Hits, surrendering the go ahead run.
The Mets themselves struck out 14 times in the 14 innings, but it was almost doubled up by the record tying pace the Braves wiffed at. Fortunately, the Braves avoided setting the record, though they could have at least avoided history if they not let Familia strike out the side in their run scoring 14th inning. The record of 26 team strikeouts was to be shared by three other teams. The 2017 Brewers and Cubs both struck out 26 times in extra inning losses, while the 2004 version of the Brewers also struck out 26 times, but that was a team covered in the 2005 Showdown set, and they won that game 1-0 in 17 innings. The 2019 Braves struck out as much in fewer innings, but they at least won their game.
deGrom actually started things out slow; getting only 1 Strikeout in the first two innings. He made up for lost time with 8 Ks in the next few innings, including striking out the side 1-2-3 in the 4th and 5th and striking out 8 consecutive hitters. In the 6th inning, he struck out the leadoff hitter before allowing a single to Ozzie Albies, him stealing 2nd base, then giving up a RBI single to Freddie Freeman before striking out the next two batters. In all, deGrom struck out 13 Braves, half of the record total for that night, and was generally amazing...too bad his offense was completely absent. And I do mean completely absent, because while the game was tied 1-1 after 9, that's only because...
deGrom was also the entire offense that night. After surrendering a run in the top of the 6th, Jacob led off the bottom of the inning with a Home Run to tie things up. He had 2 Home Runs that season, but if you're relying on your pitcher to be the entire offense then you
better be perfect on the mound.
Acuna was the big bat in the lineup, batting leadoff, hitting over 40 Home Runs and leading the league that year with 37 Stolen Bases...but he also led the team with 188 Strikeouts, and on this day he struck out twice.
Ozzie Albies went 1-7 with 2 Strikeouts, but against deGrom he managed that one Single, stole 2nd and came around to score, providing just enough offense against the hapless Mets to ensure extra innings. It was his Strikeout in the 14th inning that tied the record of 26 team Ks.
Freddie Freeman got the hat trick with 3 Strikeouts, but he did manage the RBI single against deGrom.
So while guys like Freeman were achieving a hat trick of Strikeouts, Donaldson led the day with the dreaded Golden Sombrero, striking out 4 times against Mets pitching.
Joyce struck out a couple times, then left the game as part of a defensive shuffle in the bottom of the 10th.
Adeiny Hechavarria started the season with the Mets, got released on August 14, signed by the Braves two days later, then hit the Ground-rule Double that set up the winning run to score in the 14th inning. He added 3 Strikeouts of his own.
You'll notice his strange uniform, as well as the all black look for a few of these Braves players. As it happened, this series between the Braves and Mets was happening during "Players Weekend" where the guys all got to wear special uniforms with custom names on the back if they wanted. A lot of these images are from this very game, so I figured I'd showcase that actual game (not unlike how I showcased those terrible shorts uniforms for the
'76 White Sox set).
Ortega struck out 3 times as well. Every starter for Atlanta struck out at least twice that night.
Jackson went 0-3, struck out 2 times, got hit by a pitch and was pinch-run for in the 10th. This was a rare appearance for Alex in 2019 where his overall numbers that season were: 4G, 0-13, 5 K.
Opposing deGrom was Mike Foltynewicz. He turned in a quality start of his own, going 7 innings with the one Run allowed and 7 Ks. His chart should show how a 6 on-base deGrom at the plate might have gotten that Home Run.
Foltynewicz as a hitter was much less appealing than deGrom was. He only stepped up to hit twice, and both times resulted with a Strikeout.
Lugo took care of the 8th and 9th innings, keeping the Braves from scoring and giving the Mets every chance he could for them to take the win. The Braves swung weakly as he added 4 more Strikeouts to the total.
Pinch-hitting for Foltynewicz in the 8th inning, the Braves sent Duvall up to hit in hopes they could squeak out a quick win late...instead he became another Strikeout victim.
Edwin Diaz was brought over along with Robinson Cano with a trade with Seattle and he immediately proved to be a less than reliable Closer. But tonight he held the fort down. Striking out 2 and hitting one batter but giving the Braves no chance.
After Diaz was pinch hit for in the bottom of the 10th, Avilan came out in the 11th to face Freddie Freeman. Young kids today may be confused by this term, but back then "Lefty Specialists" were a thing. Avilan was called on as a left handed pitcher to deal with the left handed power threat at the plate, then dip out after his one batter. Here, Avilan accomplished his mission, striking out Freeman on 6 pitches.
With Avilan done with his one job, righty Brad Brach was called to take over to finish the inning, getting another Strikeout in the process.
Up next for the Mets was Paul Sewald. While his Strikeout for the inning was against a Pitcher trying to hit, it still counts.
In the 12th inning, the Braves realized their bench was looking a little lacking of players. In fact, they had no position players to send in, one of the potential pitfalls of carrying so many Relievers in the bullpen is a very small bench that they already exhausted by now. So instead of letting a Reliever hit for himself, which is incredibly uncommon, they sent in Julio Teheran who wasn't starting that day...not that it helped much because he struck out on 3 pitches.
The 13th inning belonged to Justin Wilson. As a lefty, he didn't need to hand the ball over to a specialist when Freddie Freeman came to hit, and he easily handled business for his Strikeout with just 3 pitches.
Max Fried is another Starting Pitcher who the Braves hoped could do better than the Reliever due up to hit. It helped that he stepped in after Billy Hamilton knocked in the go-ahead run, and after Hamilton stole 2nd Base, he had a chance to extend the lead with two guys in scoring position and only 1 out...but he struck out and just added to the total.
Former Mets Closer Jeurys Familia was the man for the 14th inning. He immediately got into trouble with a Walk to Tyler Flowers and a Ground-rule Double from Adeiny Hechavarria to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs. He then struck out Rafael Ortega to at least add to the K count before Billy Hamilton knocked a Single through the right side to score Flowers and give the Braves a 2-1 lead. He then struck out pitcher Max Fried before loading the bases and striking out Ozzie Albies to tie the record with 26 Strikeouts. If the Braves wanted to avoid the possibility of breaking that record, they needed to wrap things up in the bottom of the inning.
Tyler Flowers was the regular Catcher, but tonight Alex Jackson was getting that start...then when extra inning started, Flowers' day off was cancelled and he was sent out to play. He led off the top of the 14th with a Walk, went to 3rd on the Ground-rule Double, then scored the deciding run when Hamilton singled. In his other plate appearance that night he got a hit, so amazingly enough he did not strike out.
The hero of the day for the Braves wasn't even in the starting lineup. Billy Hamilton came in to play in extras, pinch-running for Alex Jackson and sticking around to play in the field. He avoided striking out in his two plate appearances, and had the game winning Hit in addition to a couple Stolen Bases.
After the damage was done in the top half, the Braves sent in their Closer Mark Melancon to finish this game and save a little face on this embarrassment. It was now or never for the professional hitters on roster to muster any sort of production. Unfortunately, they had nothing to give, and their own bench was pretty empty where they had Starter Steven Matz bat for Familia. And because this game wasn't crazy enough, he didn't strike out...but he did ground out, as the Mets went down 1-2-3 to end the game.
The Mets struck out a record tying 26 batters, and still found a way to lose.
