NewsNolasco flirts with consecutive K mark
Righty falls one shy of Seaver, fanning nine Braves in a row
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
09/30/09 11:46 PM ET
ATLANTA -- Ricky "Terrific."Ricky Nolasco certainly was on Wednesday night, as the Marlins right-hander flirted with a record Hall of Famer Tom Seaver set 39 years ago.
Against the Braves at Turner Field, Nolasco ran off a streak of nine consecutive strikeouts, falling one shy of Tom Terrific's MLB mark.
Taking the mound for the last time this season, Nolasco turned in a historic performance. The 26-year-old right-hander from Rialto, Calif., set a team record with 16 strikeouts in Florida's 5-4 victory.
In 7 2/3 innings, Nolasco (13-9) yielded two unearned runs to Atlanta, against whom he had 2-4 record (5.02 ERA) lifetime entering the game.
"Of the other 29 teams, the Braves are the last team I'd ever think I'd do this against," Nolasco said.
In 11 career games against Atlanta, the most strikeouts Nolasco had against his division rival was seven, in six innings on Sept. 2 in Miami.
Admittedly not a baseball history buff, Nolasco was unaware he placed his name behind Seaver, who struck out 10 in a row for the Mets against the Padres on April 22, 1970. Seaver struck out 19 that day.
Nolasco is the first Major League pitcher to strike out nine straight batters since Jake Peavy, then with the Padres, did it on April 25, 2007, at Arizona.
To show how rare nine in a row is, consider that, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it has been done just four times in MLB history. You have to go back to Aug. 28, 1884, when the pitching mound was 50 feet from home plate, to find the other. Mickey Welch of the New York Giants did it that day. No American League pitcher has ever had more than eight.
"I'm not much of a history person," said Nolasco, who finished the season with 195 strikeouts. "But I'll tell my future kids that one day when it comes up, they can be proud of it. It's not really a big deal to me."
After recording three strikeouts through two innings, Nolasco fanned the sides in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The string ended where it started, with Adam LaRoche, who opened the sixth by turning on a 1-0 changeup for a double to right field.
After the historic stretch began with LaRoche, Matt Diaz and Javier Vazquez followed. In the fourth inning, Nolasco sent down Nate McLouth, Martin Prado and Chipper Jones -- all swinging. In the fifth inning, Brian McCann, Garret Anderson and Yunel Escobar each swung through third strikes.
LaRoche's double ended Nolasco's streak of nine straight recorded outs. Escobar singled with two outs in the second inning, but he was thrown out trying to steal second by catcher Ronny Paulino.
"He was making some pitches when he needed to, obviously getting ahead in the count and just burying that slider," LaRoche said. "For whatever reason, tonight, it was really hard to pick up, especially with two strikes. When he's got 93 [mph] in his pocket, that's always in the back of your mind."
Over the stretch of nine strikeouts, Nolasco threw 42 pitches, with 31 for strikes. The only time the count reached three balls was to McLouth to open the fourth inning. But Nolasco won the eight-pitch showdown, striking out the Braves center fielder with a full-count slider.
Florida's previous record was seven in a row, set by Jesus Sanchez on Sept. 13, 1998, also at Atlanta.
"That's pretty impressive," veteran Wes Helms said. "You don't see that happen in the big leagues. Somebody usually puts the ball in play. That's some streak right there. He definitely had it going tonight."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
