Former Clemson righthander Spencer Strider is continuing to embed his name in the MLB record books in just his second regular season in the majors.
The 24-year-old put together a stellar outing for the Atlanta Braves on Monday when his ball club needed it most, dealing double digit strikeouts and extending his nine-or-more-strikeout streak to nine consecutive games — a feat accomplished by just seven other players in MLB history. Strider became the first Brave to reach nine consecutive games, surpassing MLB legend John Smoltz who recorded the previous franchise record in 1997 with eight consecutive games with at least nine strikeouts.
“You know I’m just grateful that I made it that deep in the game, to be honest with you,” Strider said in postgame on Monday. “To get through four without walking a guy to me is like a good day. We threw strikes, attacked, Murph (catcher Sean Murphy) caught a great game and so when you do that stuff well, the little things, throw for strikes and that kind of stuff, it goes well usually.”
Following a four-game skid for Atlanta, Strider dealt a season-high 13 strikeouts while allowing no runs, no walks and just two hits in his eight innings en route to Monday night’s eventual 11-0 shutout victory over the Marlins at Truist Field.
The former Tiger carried what would have been the first perfect game of his young career through six innings of work, retiring the first 18 batters he faced, as well as what would have been the 15th no-hitter in Braves history, which came to an end in the eighth inning with one out after Jean Segura secured Miami’s first hit of the day.
“Normally when things are going that well and guys are seeing such few pitches, there’s not as much to discuss cause things are going well, so we kind of know what to do,” Strider said regarding if he was aware of the no-hitter or not. “We conversed before each inning and yeah, I was aware… It’s kind of cool, cool to be there. Grateful for it.”
As if the night couldn’t get any more special, several members of Strider’s extended family were in attendance for Monday night’s game including his grandmother, Esther, who was celebrating her 90th birthday at the ballpark alongside what would be a historic night on the mound for her grandson.
“It was cool,” the righthander said about having his family in the stands. “I’m happy they were there for that. They don’t get to come to a lot of games, certainly not since I’ve made it to this level, so very grateful.”
In his last 15 starts, Strider has amassed 137 strikeouts, a 2.06 ERA and a 40.1 strikeout percentage and currently leads the MLB in strikeouts with 49 through five game appearances so far this season.
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Dear Old Clemson has some fantastic collectibles from some of Clemson’s current and former baseball stars. Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 