Wake Up With Johan Santana Striking Out 17 Rangers

What a performance this was from one of the most fun pitchers to watch throw. Johan Santana was absolutely dominant for a handful of years, he belongs in the Hall Of Good, but not the Hall Of Fame. Still, for a few seasons he was must see TV. This game was one of those nights.

Santana set the club record for strikeouts with 17 in this outing against the Texas Rangers. Every Ranger who started struck out at least once, with Brad Wilkerson, Marlon Byrd, and Gerald Laird striking out three times, and Michael Young striking out four times. Just an all around dominating performance by Santana in the 1-0 win. He went eight innings, gave up two hits, walked none, and struck out 17. He was so filthy that he generated 31 swing and misses, just nasty stuff.

This was one of the nights where if you are on the Rangers you fake an illness to get out of the game so you won’t be embarrassed. It was obvious he was feeling himself that night, and there was nothing you could do about it. His changeup was absolutely filthy that night.

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It’s too bad Santana’s career went downhill after his no-hitter for the Mets when he threw 843 pitches, because he was arguably one of the most fun pitchers to watch pitch. He finished top 10 in the Cy Young voting for 6 consecutive years, and won the award in 2004 and 2006. Straight STUD on the bump.