Former major-leaguer Kerry Wood wasted little time Wednesday in welcoming Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer to the 20-strikeout club after his dominating performance in a 3-2 win over the Tigers. Wood punctuated his tweet with a simple hashtag assessment of Scherzer’s stuff: #Filthy.
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Wood struck out 20 Astros on May 6, 1998, a month before his 21st birthday.
Roger Clemens, who accomplished the feat twice, and Randy Johnson, the only left-hander, are the other pitchers to strike out 20 over nine innings.
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Scherzer threw 119 pitches, 96 for strikes, walked none and gave up six hits.
And he thanked Wood for the welcome — and inspiration, saying he watched Wood “as a kid dreaming of doing the same.”
Scherzer allowed six hits in the historic outing, in some ways falling short of the dominance he exhibited on Oct. 3 last season, when he amassed 17 strikeouts in a no-hitter against the Mets.
