Most strikeouts by a winning team
Posted by Andy on January 3, 2009
Here are the most strikeouts in a game by a winning team (extra innings excluded):
Cnt Date Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB **SO** HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS LOB Batrs +----+-------------+---+----+-------+---+---+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+------+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+-----+ 1 1997-06-24 OAK @SEA W 4-1 37 37 4 11 3 0 2 4 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 10 2 1969-09-15 NYM @STL W 4-3 38 36 4 9 0 0 2 4 2 0 19 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 12 3 2007-04-25 ARI SDP W 3-2 33 29 3 4 0 0 2 3 4 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 4 2006-05-22 ATL @SDP W 3-1 33 32 3 5 1 0 2 3 1 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 12 5 2005-04-10 NYM @ATL W 6-1 42 38 6 13 3 0 3 6 2 1 18 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 9 9 6 1997-07-13 TEX @SEA W 4-2 41 33 4 7 3 1 1 4 6 1 18 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 10 12 7 1992-09-27 TEX SEA W 3-2 38 31 3 7 1 0 0 3 5 1 18 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 10 14 8 1989-07-25 TOR @TEX W 4-0 44 40 4 9 3 0 0 3 4 2 18 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 13 11 9 2007-09-21 BOS @TBD W 8-1 45 35 8 9 1 1 3 6 6 0 17 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 10 10 10 2003-06-26 MIL @CHC W 5-3 33 32 5 6 1 0 2 5 1 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 14 11 2000-05-06 TBD @BOS W 1-0 34 33 1 6 0 0 0 1 1 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 9 12 1999-09-12 OAK @TBD W 4-3 38 33 4 6 1 0 2 4 5 1 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 10 13 1999-06-30 CIN ARI W 2-0 30 30 2 7 0 0 1 2 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 12 14 1998-08-29 MON @SDP W 3-1 33 33 3 6 1 0 2 3 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 12 15 1998-05-16 CHC @CIN W 5-4 42 36 5 11 2 0 1 5 6 1 17 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 10 14 16 1997-07-21 PIT @PHI W 3-2 34 32 3 7 1 1 2 3 1 0 17 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 4 16 17 1997-07-05 DET BAL W 6-5 35 30 6 8 2 0 2 5 5 1 17 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 13 18 1970-05-21 PHI STL W 4-3 37 33 4 11 1 1 1 4 3 1 17 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 15 19 1968-09-18 BOS BAL W 4-0 34 27 4 5 0 0 0 4 5 0 17 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 11 20 1961-05-10 BOS @LAA W 3-2 35 34 3 6 0 0 1 3 1 0 17 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 11
Hey, I was actually at that Mariners game, #1. It was a pretty weird game. First of all, in the 5th inning, McGwire hit an incredible moon shot homer that went way into the upper deck in the Kingdome. It was easily the most towering homer I've ever seen, seemingly approaching the roof.
Secondly, everybody was aware that Johnson had a shot at the single-game (9-inning) record of 20 strikeouts, which at that time had been done just twice, both times by Roger Clemens. RJ had 15 strikeouts through 6 innnings, and it seemed that he was definitely going to break the record. In the 7th, he got the first out on a fly ball, and the home crowd booed since it was not a strikeout. Then he gave up a single and the crowd cheered, since that wasn't an out and gave him the chance to record another K. It was crazy--the home team was cheering backwards. So what do you think happened when he got the next guy to hit into a double play to end the inning? Yep, massive booing. He was stuck on 15 K's through 7 innings.
But then, in the 8th inning, he struck out the side (including McGwire and Canseco no less) to bring his total up to 18. That meant he needed two to tie the record and three to break it.
The Athletics game up to bat in the top of the 9th already leading the game 3-0. Scott Brosius flew out (boos heard.) George Williams homers to push the lead to 4-0, but the Mariners crowd cheers. Mark Bellhorn strikes out to give Johnson 19 K's--massive cheering of course, which momentarily sets my brain back to normal since the home team is cheering a positive event. But then Jason McDonald lines out to end the inning. First there are massive boos, but they quickly turn to cheers to congratulate Randy on his excellent effort. I guess most fans realized at that point that the Mariners were likely to lose in the bottom of the frame, which they did.
That was an immensely fun game to attend.