Watch all 20 of Max Scherzer’s strikeouts vs. Tigers (Video)

Relive each and every one of Max Scherzer’s record tying 20 strikeouts against his old team. 

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer had an incredible performance against the Detroit Tigers on May 11. How incredible was it? He accomplished a feat that only two other pitchers have accomplished: he struck out 20 batters in one nine inning game. Roger Clemens accomplished the feat twice.

Kerry Wood accomplished the rare feat 18 years and five days before Scherzer did. Scherzer proved to himself and to the Tigers that he’s worth every penny that he got from the Nationals. The feat is arguably the most dominant performance of Scherzer’s career. Considering that he threw two no-hitters last season, that’s saying something.

Scherzer might have thrown the most efficient of all of the 20 strikeout games. He threw 119 pitches during the complete game. 96 of those pitches were strikes, meaning that Scherzer threw 23 balls. Scherzer nearly had more strikeouts than balls. Like Clemens and Wood, Scherzer also walked zero batters.

He also needed 26 batters to get to 20 strikeouts. By comparison, Wood and Clemens each needed to strike out the final batter to get to 20 strikeouts.

Wood still has the title of having the most impressive 20 strikeout game of all-time because he was a controversial hit away from throwing a no-hitter. But hats off to Scherzer for having arguably the second most impressive 20 strikeout game.

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