Atlanta Braves Spencer Strider Strikes Out 16

ATLANTA -- Rookie Spencer Strider had 16 strikeouts to set a Braves record for a nine-inning game and allowed just two hits in eight innings to lead Atlanta to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.

Strider fanned his last two batters with two runners on base in the eighth -- with his fastball still hitting 98 mph -- to complete his masterful 106-pitch outing.

"I lost track after five [innings],'' said Strider of his strikeout count. Teammate Kyle Wright filled in the rookie about the record.

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"I came out of the game and Kyle was telling me something about John Smoltz or whatever. It didn't make any sense,'' Strider said.

Smoltz held the previous Atlanta record with 15 strikeouts in a nine-inning game against the New York Mets on April 10, 2005, and against Montreal on May 24, 1992. Warren Spahn had 15 strikeouts in a nine-inning game in 1960, when the franchise was in Milwaukee. Spahn also had 18 strikeouts in a game in 1952, but that came in extra innings.

Strider threw only 42 pitches through his first four innings, setting a pace that allowed him to log his longest career start. He did not walk a batter, making him the fourth rookie in major league history with 16 strikeouts and no walks in a game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The others were Jon Gray (2016), Kerry Wood (1998) and Dwight Gooden (twice in 1984).

Strider also joined Wood, who had 20 strikeouts in a one-hitter in 1998, as the only rookies with at least 16 strikeouts and two or fewer baserunners allowed, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.