Tuesday night was a special one for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they clinched their seventh straight National League West division title behind Walker Buehler‘s dominant performance against the Baltimore Orioles.
But Buehler made some personal history of his own as well. Per STATS LLC, the dominant effort gave him the most starts in a single season with double-digit strikeouts and no walks in MLB history by a pitcher 25 years old or younger during the Live-Ball Era (since 1920).
Buehler now has five such performances over his two full MLB seasons, which surpassed the record Matt Harvey set in 2013. Buehler put himself into the record books with 11 strikeouts over seven shutout innings.
His 10th strikeout of the night also have him 200 on the season, the first time in his career that he reached that total.
After a breakout first full season in the big leagues, in which he eventually became the team’s best starting pitcher in the postseason, Buehler has followed with an even better 2019. He overcame a Spring Training injury and a rough start to the season en route to first NL All-Star selection.
Buehler has also thrown two complete games this year, including a memorable 16-strikeout, zero-walk performance against the Colorado Rockies in June. The Dodgers won that on a walk-off home run from rookie Matt Beaty.
Buehler once again figures to play a massive role in the Dodgers’ postseason plans. He will slot into the starting rotation behind Cy Young candidate Hyun-Jin Ryu and former MVP Clayton Kershaw, along with a fourth starter who has yet to be named.
He already has an incredible playoff track record for someone as young as he is. Buehler started Game 7 of the 2018 NL Championship Series, which the Dodgers won to advance to the World Series.
In Game 3 of that Fall Classic against the Boston Red Sox, Buehler threw seven shutout innings in front of a roaring Dodger Stadium crowd.
However, the Red Sox came back to tie the game and forced an 18-inning marathon. The Dodgers won on a walk-off home run by Max Muncy, which proved to be their only victory in the five games.
