Jesus Luzardo struck out 11 Nationals in just five innings during the Philllies' win on Saturday.
Luzardo looked sharp. But his effort pales in comparison to the line another Phillies pitcher once put up against Washington: 8 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 13 K.
Phillies are now 54-22 against the Nationals since this tweet. https://t.co/orqeh96qiC
That player is the only Phillies pitcher to strike out 13 Nationals (or Expos) in one game.
A handful of other Phillies pitchers struck out 12 against the franchise:
- In 2014, A.J. Burnett struck out 12 Nats in seven innings in a 3-2 Phils win.
- Steve Carlton struck out 12 Expos in a complete game shutout in 1979.
- Carlton struck out 12 Expos again in 1981, this time throwing ten innings. The Phillies went on to lose that one, 1-0 in 17(!!!) innings.
- In 1988, Kevin Gross struck out 12 Expos in a complete game shutout.
- In 2011, Cliff Lee struck out 12 Nats in a complete game shutout.
- In 2005, Brett Myers struck out 12 Nats in 6.2 innings.
But who struck out 13 Nats in eight innings?
Hint one: Lefthander.
Hint two: He accomplished the feat in 2007.
Hint three: This guy ended up having a pretty good 2008 season as well.
Hint four: It's Cole Hamels.
On September 28, 2007, Hamels simply burned through the Nationals' lineup. Ryan Howard hit his 45th home run of the year and the Phillies won 6-0. The game was critical to the Phils' effort to hunt down the Mets for the '07 NL East title.
Here's the full list of Phillies to strike out ten or more Nationals/Expos in one game.
So many legends on this list: Halladay... Schilling... Drew Smyly... Vince Velasquez. (Ok, also a few non-legends.)
Luzardo now adds his name.