D-backs tie MLB record for consecutive games with 11 or more strikeouts
May 2, 2017, 7:54 PM | Updated: May 3, 2017, 11:00 am
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Taijuan Walker throws during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, May 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Despite a rocky performance from starter Taijuan Walker, the Diamondbacks pitching staff matched the MLB record with the team’s eighth consecutive game of 11 or more strikeouts in its 6-3 win over the Nationals on Tuesday.
It ties the record set by the Indians in September 2014.
Walker lasted just 4.2 innings and needed 117 pitches to get there. He allowed five hits and three runs, all earned, but also had five walks and six strikeouts.
Reliever T.J. McFarland went 1.1 innings and added one more strikeout, J.J. Hoover added two more Ks in the seventh inning and Jorge De La Rosa added one in the eighth.
Embattled closer Fernando Rodney made the 11th strikeout for the first out of the ninth frame.
Arizona entered the game Tuesday leading MLB with 252 strikeouts on the season.
