Sale Looking for MLB-Record 6th Straight Game with 12 Strikeouts
Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale made history in Friday's 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers, joining Randy Johnson (1998) and Pedro Martinez (1999) as the only pitchers in the modern era (since 1900) to record 12 or more strikeouts in five consecutive starts, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).
Now, Sale enters Wednesday's outing against the Minnesota Twins looking to become the first pitcher in the modern era to extend such a streak to six starts.
Neither Johnson nor Martinez could accomplish the feat, each falling just one strikeout shy of the mark in the bid for a sixth consecutive 12-K outing.
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Martinez finished his legendary 1999 campaign with five consecutive starts with 12 or more strikeouts and then struck outย just 11 batters in his first start of 2000. He ran away with the American League Cy Young Award in 1999, earning each first-place vote in one of the easiest ballots of all time. Unsurprisingly, he again captured the award in 2000, putting up another legendary season.
Johnson, on the other hand, didn't win a Cy Young Award in 1998, but that's only because he was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Houston Astros midseason. Despite making just 11 starts for Houstonโduring which time he put together the aforementioned streakโhe finished seventh in the National League Cy Young voting.
Sale's recent dominance has put him near the front of a loaded field for Cy Young honors in the AL this season, although he ranks eighth in ERA (2.74), 15th in innings (88.2) and tied for sixth in wins (six).
To be fair, he's made just 13 starts, and he leads all qualified AL starters in WHIP (0.94) and is second to only Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archerโwho has started 16 gamesโin strikeouts (119).
He's also the first pitcher since Johnson in 2002 to record double-digit strikeouts in six consecutive outings, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Of course, publicity sometimes matters just as much as statistics, and a new MLB record would help Sale's cause, even if it's forgotten by some voters by the end of the season.
