In baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a batter during his time at bat. Twenty different pitchers have struck out at least 18 batters in a single nine-inning Major League Baseball (MLB) game, the most recent being Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals on May 11, 2016. Four players have accomplished the feat more than once in their career; no player has ever struck out more than 20 batters in a nine-inning game. Charlie Sweeney was the first player to strike out 18 batters in a single game, doing so for the Providence Grays against the Boston Beaneaters on June 7, 1884. In spite of this, Bob Feller is viewed as the first pitcher to accomplish the feat, since his then-record 18 strikeouts was the first to occur during the 20th century and the live-ball era.

Out of the twenty pitchers who have accomplished the feat, fifteen were right-handed and five pitched left-handed. Five of these players have played for only one major league team. Six pitchers—Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and Max Scherzer—are also members of the 3,000 strikeout club. Sweeney has the fewest career strikeouts in the group with 505, while Nolan Ryan, with 5,714, struck out more batters than any other pitcher in major league history. Bill Gullickson and Kerry Wood are the only rookies to have achieved the feat. Tom Seaver concluded his milestone game by striking out the final ten batters he faced, setting a new major league record for most consecutive strikeouts.

Of the eleven players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame who have struck out 18 batters in a game, six have been elected; all six were elected on the first ballot. Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played in at least 10 major league seasons, and have either been retired for five seasons or deceased for at least six months.

Players

Key

Pitcher	Name of the pitcher
Date	Date of the game
Team	The pitcher's team
Opposing team	The team against whom the pitcher struck out 18 players
Score	Final score of the game, with the pitcher's team score listed first
Strikeouts	Number of strikeouts the pitcher recorded
Career Ks	Career strikeouts
†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
*	Player is active
‡	Indicates the player's team lost the game

MLB pitchers with 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning game

MLB pitchers with 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning game (sorted by number of strikeouts, then chronologically)

Pitcher	Date	Team	Opposing team	Score	Strikeouts	Career Ks	Refs
Max Scherzer	May 11, 2016	Washington Nationals	Detroit Tigers	3–2	20	3,367
Kerry Wood	May 6, 1998	Chicago Cubs	Houston Astros	2–0	20	1,582
Roger Clemens	September 18, 1996	Boston Red Sox	Detroit Tigers	4–0	20	4,672
Roger Clemens	April 29, 1986	Boston Red Sox	Seattle Mariners	3–1	20	4,672
Randy Johnson	August 8, 1997	Seattle Mariners	Chicago White Sox	5–0	19	4,875
Randy Johnson	June 24, 1997	Seattle Mariners	Oakland Athletics	1–4	19	4,875
David Cone	October 6, 1991	New York Mets	Philadelphia Phillies	7–0	19	2,668
Nolan Ryan	August 12, 1974	California Angels	Boston Red Sox	4–2	19	5,714
Tom Seaver	April 22, 1970	New York Mets	San Diego Padres	2–1	19	3,640
Steve Carlton	September 15, 1969	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Mets	3–4	19	4,136
Hugh Daily	July 7, 1884	Chicago Browns	Boston Reds	10–4	19	846
Charlie Sweeney	June 7, 1884	Providence Grays	Boston Beaneaters	2–1	19	505
Corey Kluber	May 13, 2015	Cleveland Indians	St. Louis Cardinals	2–0	18	1,725
Ben Sheets	May 16, 2004	Milwaukee Brewers	Atlanta Braves	4–1	18	1,325
Roger Clemens	August 25, 1998	Toronto Blue Jays	Kansas City Royals	3–0	18	4,672
Randy Johnson	September 27, 1992	Seattle Mariners	Texas Rangers	2–3	18	4,875
Ramón Martínez	June 4, 1990	Los Angeles Dodgers	Atlanta Braves	6–0	18	1,427
Bill Gullickson	September 10, 1980	Montreal Expos	Chicago Cubs	4–2	18	1,279
Ron Guidry	June 17, 1978	New York Yankees	California Angels	4–0	18	1,778
Nolan Ryan	September 10, 1976	California Angels	Chicago White Sox	3–2	18	5,714
Don Wilson	July 14, 1968	Houston Astros	Cincinnati Reds	6–1	18	1,283
Sandy Koufax	April 24, 1962	Los Angeles Dodgers	Chicago Cubs	10–2	18	2,396
Sandy Koufax	August 31, 1959	Los Angeles Dodgers	San Francisco Giants	5–2	18	2,396
Bob Feller	October 2, 1938	Cleveland Indians	Detroit Tigers	1–4	18	2,581
Henry Porter	October 3, 1884	Milwaukee Brewers	Boston Reds	4–5	18	659
Dupee Shaw	July 19, 1884	Boston Reds	St. Louis Maroons	0–1	18	950

18 strikeouts in extra-inning games

Seven different pitchers have struck out at least 18 batters in an extra-inning Major League Baseball (MLB) game to date. Only Nolan Ryan accomplished the feat more than once in his career and no player has ever struck out more than 21 batters in a game.

The following list is kept separate from the above list of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning game. This is due to the differing number of innings pitched during an extra-inning game, the lack of a definitive endpoint to the game that would otherwise allow for a fair comparison to be made, and the advantage of having more opportunities to strike out players during an extra-inning game as opposed to one lasting nine innings.

Key

IP	Innings pitched by the pitcher in the game

MLB pitchers with 18 strikeouts in an extra-inning game

Pitcher	Date	Team	Opposing team	Score	Strikeouts	IP	Career Ks	Refs
Tom Cheney	September 12, 1962	Washington Senators	Baltimore Orioles	2–1	21	16	345
Randy Johnson	May 8, 2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	Cincinnati Reds	4–3	20	9	4,875
Luis Tiant	July 3, 1968	Cleveland Indians	Minnesota Twins	1–0	19	10	2,416
Nolan Ryan	June 14, 1974	California Angels	Boston Red Sox	4–3	19	13	5,714
Nolan Ryan	August 20, 1974	California Angels	Detroit Tigers	0–1	19	11	5,714
Nolan Ryan	June 8, 1977	California Angels	Toronto Blue Jays	2–1	19	10	5,714
Warren Spahn	June 14, 1952	Boston Braves	Chicago Cubs	1–3	18	15	2,583
Chris Short	October 2, 1965	Philadelphia Phillies	New York Mets	0–0	18	15	1,629
Jim Maloney	June 14, 1965	Cincinnati Reds	New York Mets	0–1	18	11	1,605

See also

• 3,000 strikeout club