"Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said Santana threw only four sliders, meaning the other 108 pitches were all fastballs and changeups." At about 3pm yesterday I noticed online that Johan Santana had stuck out 7 hitters through three perfect innings. Rarely is it this obvious that one has a chance to witness something special, so I tuned in.
Over the next five innings, Santana continued at this pace, finishing with 17 K's through 8 (video). Although I found myself yelling at the TV as Gardenhire decided to bring Joe Nathan in for the 9th, I understood his decision, as Santana had thrown 112 pitches. For good reason, the Twins are very cautious with Johan, who actually has never thrown over 120 pitches in his career.
In the end, I was forced to settle for having seen the best performance of Johan Santana's career (according to Game Score, the second best was a 2004 start against the Royals, where he threw a CG 3-hit shutout, striking out 13 and walking 2).
In the 24 hours since, I have discovered how unique this performance was. In fact, it was the best performance since at least 1957 by a pitcher who pitched less than nine innings. Thanks to Baseball Reference's Play Index, here are the top 6:
It actually wasn't the most strikeouts ever for a pitcher who pitched 8 or less innings- Randy Johnson struck out 18 in 8 innings on September 27, 1992 (a game the Mariners, amazingly, ended up losing).
Perhaps the most impressive part of what Johan did last night is that he struck out 17 while only throwing just 112 pitches. That is the most Ks with under 115 pitches since the Play Index starts, in 1957.
Since I know you were wondering, the highest Game Score on record is from Dean Chance in 1964, as he pitched 14 shutout innings against the Yankees, allowing three hits and striking out 12 while walking 2. He was rewarded for his efforts with a no decision.
It is doubtful that the Twins will make a run at the playoffs, as they haven't really taken advantage of the struggles of the Central's top two teams, going 12-15 over the last month. They only have about a 5% chance of playing in October, but it's possible that Johan can make a late charge for the Cy Young. Yesterday bumped him up to sixth among starters in the current standings, and he really isn't that far behind the leaders (Haren and Beckett). It's not like he hasn't done this before; his career record in August and September is 37-9, with a 2.32 ERA.
Picture taken from here.
The Baseball Reference Play Index is where all these stats were found.
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