Most Strikeouts Between Hits Allowed … And Then Some
From SABR member Tom Ruane at Retrosheet.org on September 5, 2011:
After writing the post on pitchers who had a lot of strikeouts and hits allowed, I was wondering which pitchers had the most strikeouts between hits allowed. For this study, I only looked at games from 1956-2010 so the results below aren’t conclusive, but hopefully some will find them interesting anyway.
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It’s probably not too surprising that Nolan Ryan dominates this list, since he struck out more men and pitched more no-hitters than anyone else. His first two entries on the list include his two no-hitters from 1973, games in which struck out 17 and 12. His last streak from that year doesn’t feature a no-hitter but does contain a one-hitter where the only hit of the game came with one out in the top of the first. His other two entries on the list contain his sixth and seventh no-hitters, 14 and 16-strikeout performances, and were thrown when the pitcher was 43 and 44-years-old.
One other no-hitter was critical to a pitcher making this list, Nolan Ryan’s teammate Mike Scott’s pennant-clinching victory over the Giants in 1986, while the remaining starting pitcher above, Pedro Martinez, started his streak during a 17-strikeout one-hitter against the Yankees.
Read the full article here: http://www.retrosheet.org/Research/RuaneT/retro_fun.htm#A110905
Originally published: September 7, 2011. Last Updated: September 7, 2011.