Article: Blue Jays Pitchers Set Franchise Strikeout Record

[Owen Hill]

The Braves must have been in a hurry to get out of town. Jays pitchers struck them out 19 times on Wednesday afternoon!

Not that anybody should be looking too closely at the standings on April 16, but the Toronto Blue Jays’ 3-1 win over the Braves made the Jays the first team in the American League to win 11 games. Also significant in Wednesday afternoon’s victory, Blue Jays pitchers struck out 19 hitters, a franchise record for a nine-inning game.

Chris Bassitt did much of the heavy lifting early on, punching out 10 Braves across his five innings of work. It was his game with first double-digit strikeouts since September 2023. Bassitt was great yet again in his fourth start of the season, holding Atlanta scoreless on two walks and three hits, lowering his early-season ERA to 0.77.

When you looked at the pitching matchup and saw Spencer Strider going up against Chris Bassitt, I’m sure you might have been surprised to find out that Bassitt would not only outduel Strider but strike out twice as many batters. After all, Strider has a career average of 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Speaking of strikeouts, Strider picked up his 500th career K in just his 335th inning of work during the fifth inning. This start was his first since he underwent Tommy John surgery last spring. Based on some of the swings the Blue Jays were taking early on, he looks likely to return to notching double-digit strikeout games of his own very soon.

Following a 30-pitch fifth inning from Bassitt, the broadcast picked up on some debate in the dugout between John Schneider, Pete Walker, Bassitt. After originally seeming to decide to send Bassitt out for the sixth, the manager decided to turn to his bullpen.

Lefty Brendon Little came in to face the heart of the Braves lineup and brought some of the nastiest stuff we’ve seen from him all season. Despite throwing the ball in the strike zone on just three (yes, three) of his 20 pitches, Little struck out the side while mixing in a walk to Sean Murphy. His pitch chart does not look like that of a pitcher who had much success, but he forced hitters not only to chase, but to whiff on every one of their swings.

Nick Sandlin came out of the ‘pen in the seventh. He induced a groundout, allowed a single, then started contributing to the strikeout total by punching out Orlando Arcia on a nasty slider. It was a two-run game at the time, and leadoff hitter Michael Harris II stpped up to the plate as the tying run. John Schneider bounced out of the dugout and called on his flamethrowing set-up man, Yimi García, hoping to get four outs.

And that’s exactly what he got. In typical dominant fashion, García fanned all four hitters he faced, keeping them off balance with curveballs and blowing upper-90s heaters by them. When García’s work was done, the Blue Jays sat at 18 punchies, tied with the previous nine franchise record set against the Royals in August 1998. Jeff Hoffman came in for the save in the Bottom of the ninth. Given Hoffman’s high-octane stuff, the Jays were also within reach of the all-time nine-inning strikeout record of 20, which is shared by a number of teams, including three pitchers who did it individually. 

Hoffman induced a lineout before Drake Baldwin killed the shutout with a two-strike homer. The ball was pulled down the left field line at just 95 MPH and had an xBA of just .150. A Jarred Kelenic popout put 20 out of reach, but Hoffman got Eli White swinging, securing both the win and the franchise record..

Perhaps the most impressive part of the pitching staff’s work was the job they did against the top of the Atlanta lineup. The first three hitters, Michael Harris II, Austin Riley, and Matt Olson, finished a combined 1-for-12 with 11 K’s, including golden sombreros for both Harris II and Riley. Riley has been on a heater at the plate, with a 153 wRC+, and started the series against the Jays with three homers and six RBI in the first two games. It was impressive to see the Jays cool off such a hot hitter en route to another series victory.

Courtesy of Blue Jays social, here’s a look at all 19 strikeouts in all their glory!

View full article

[mphenhef]

Definitely need to give some credit to Bill Miller (Home plate umpire) here too for a very pitcher friendly zone.

[Orgfiller]

3 hours ago, mphenhef said:

Definitely need to give some credit to Bill Miller (Home plate umpire) here too for a very pitcher friendly zone.

Not to mention Kirk for making the most out of Bill Miller's strikezone. Sean Murphy, his Braves counterpart, was not getting the same calls.

[John_Havok]

5 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Not to mention Kirk for making the most out of Bill Miller's strikezone. Sean Murphy, his Braves counterpart, was not getting the same calls.

Wasn't too bad, not like Gonzalez the other day for +2 runs not in favour of the Jays

Miller was +.56 in favour of the Jays.