Kevin Correia threw seven innings and recorded 14 outs on groundballs in his win over the Rangers on Sunday. Correia induced two double-play grounders, bringing his total for the season to 23, which now leads all American League pitchers. Mariners teammates Felix Hernandez and Joe Saunders, who shared the A.L. lead with 22 apiece entering play on Sunday, are now tied for second place.
From Elias yesterday –
Matt Garza had nine strikeouts in his seven innings against the Twins, the highest strikeout total for any pitcher in any of Saturday’s major-league games. But when the day, and the month, were done, major-league pitchers finished August with an average of 14.945 strikeouts per game, the sixth-highest average in any month in major-league history in which at least 100 games were played. And, yes, it’s our end-of-the-month duty to note that the streak continues: the 12 months with the highest strikeouts-per-game averages in major-league history (minimum: 100 games) are the last 12 months: September of 2011, all six months of last season, and the five months played so far this season.
The Twins got themselves their own piece of strikeout history: with 11 strikeouts on Saturday night – nine at the hands of Garza and two more by Joe Nathan – the Twins finished August having struck out 291 times in 30 games, the highest total of strikeouts by any team in one month in major-league history.