Strikeouts

FISHKILL, N.Y. -- Reid Ryan is a rookie right-hander for the Hudson Valley Renegades and, of course, he knows the numbers. How could Nolan's oldest boy not know them?Still, this was different. Ryan visited Cooperstown, N.Y., for the first time last week. He sought out the exhibits commemorating his father's no-hitters (seven), his strikeouts (5,714), the whole mind-numbing numerical parade built over 27 seasons.He stared at the displays, partly in awe, fully proud."I'm used to my dad being a legend and all that, but you don't really think of what he's done until you go up there and see all the records and numbers they have," Ryan said.

In the sixth inning of the Orioles' 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, Orioles manager Buck Showalter turned to bench coach John Russell in the visiting dugout of Fenway Park and made a prognostication in the middle of a tied game. Left-hander Brian Matusz had just overcome a 3-0 count to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to strike him out on a full-count pitch. Matusz came into the game with two on and one out in the sixth, relieving starter Chris Tillman after he threw 96 pitches.

FREDERICK -- Fresh off a scoreless frame in the MLB Futures Game, a showpiece for the world's top prospects, Orioles phenom Dylan Bundy continued his steady progress through the Carolina League on Saturday night against the Carolina Mudcats (CLE).  Bundy fanned eight batters in five two-hit innings, allowing an unearned run and walking one for the High A Frederick Keys. With the performance, Bundy lowered his season ERA to 3.15, though when he left the game, Bundy was in line for the loss.

Moments after striking out 10 in the Orioles' 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, lefty Zach Britton was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. This makes room for left-hander Randy Wolf, who  will be activated tomorrow and added to the 25-man roster. With major league rosters expanding on Saturday and Norfolk's regular-season ending Monday, Britton could quickly return to the Orioles and take his regular turn in the rotation Tuesday. Wolf, released by the Milwaukee Brewers Aug. 22, was added to the 40-man roster, which didn't require a corresponding move.

PHILADELPHIA -- In the general scheme of things, one win when you're 15 1/2 games out and 11 below .500 is no reason to jump up and down and get all excited.But, hey, the Phillies needed this one.They hadn't beaten the Cardinals since, well, it's hard to remember, but it certainly wasn't during the first three games of this series or the whole series in St. Louis last week (try early April). They hadn't won since Sunday, when they sent Dwight Gooden for a loop, then had to all but beg for a 10-9 win.And they hadn't felt good about themselves for a long, long time.

CLEVELAND -- Why not strike out 23 times and win? The Orioles have spent all season doing things that had never been done while swinging the bat.In striking out 23 times while eliminating the Cleveland Indians yesterday, the Orioles surpassed the record for most strikeouts in a victory, previously held by the 1972 Cincinnati Reds, who struck out 22 times in a 19-inning regular-season game with the Los Angeles Dodgers, yet won, 2-1. The Orioles' 23 strikeouts...

You thought Mo Vaughn was big? You thought Jack Clark struck out a lot? You thought the Red Sox, with sluggers like Clark, Tom Brunansky and Mike Greenwell, were going to light up the AL East sky with homers?Think again. The Detroit Tigers, who take on the Orioles in the first of a three-game set tonight at Memorial Stadium (7:35, HTS), will match their sluggers with any in the major leagues, and probably come out on top.With a whopping 512, the Tigers lead the majors in strikeouts, but they also have the most home runs in both leagues, with 93. Their closest competition for the major-league lead is the Chicago Cubs, who have 80.First among the Motown sluggers is the man who makes Mo Vaughn look not so big, Cecil Fielder, last year's major-league leader in home runs, with 51.This year, Fielder is tied for second in the AL in home runs with 18. His extra girth accumulated during the offseason does not appear to be detrimental to his productivity -- he leads the major leagues with 60 RBIs.

CINCINNATI -- David Cone allowed four hits and struck out a season-high 13 in eight innings to lead the New York Mets to a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds last night.Cone (6-3) allowed only a pair of unearned runs after overcoming a shaky first inning. The right-hander has given up just three earned runs in his last three starts.Cone's 13 strikeouts matched his career high and pushed him head of teammate Dwight Gooden for the National League lead with 74. He also fanned 13 last Aug. 18 against San Francisco.

Chicago Cubs right-hander and likely Hall of Famer Greg Maddux has been characterized as many things during his brilliant big league career. No one's ever labeled him a strikeout pitcher, though. Yet Tuesday he fanned the San Francisco Giants' Omar Vizquel to record his 3,000th career strikeout, becoming the 13th member of the elite club. He's also the ninth pitcher to reach both 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. That's what happens when you consistently locate your pitches and keep taking the ball game after game year after year.

The first few months of 1992 were very good for Orioles pitcher Bob Milacki. He won a $1.1 million salary from an arbitrator in February, and the second spot in the starting rotation in April.But as the year advanced, things soured for Milacki, and he was optioned to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings yesterday. His spot on the roster will be filled by right-hander Richie Lewis, who was third in the International League in strikeouts.Milacki, 27, is the second Orioles starter to be moved from the roster in as many days.

Bowie lefty Jake Pettit has been named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, becoming the first Baysox player to receive the honor since Zach Clark in June. Pettit, 25, went 1-0 on the week with a 1.17 ERA and five strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings pitched. He threw 7 1/3 no-hit innings against the Trenton Thunder on Saturday before giving up a homer. On the season, Pettit, a 42nd-rounder in 2010, is 9-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 22 games (19 starts) with the Baysox.

Rookie left-hander Wei-Yin Chen  had just finished speaking with reporters following the Orioles' 4-0 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday night when MASN analyst Mike Bordick strolled by to congratulate the Taiwanese pitcher on a job well done. “Que paso,'” Chen responded - in Spanish - which turned everyone's head in the hallway toward a smiling Chen. Yes, the 27-year-old rookie has made a seamless adjustment to the big leagues. He gave one of his best outings of the season Saturday, throwing seven shutout innings and holding the Rays to five hits for his team-high 10th win of the season.

When Miguel Gonzalez suffered the worst outing of his brief major league career last Wednesday, he didn't offer any excuses, only the explanation that he didn't have a good feel for his pitches. He couldn't get a good grip on the ball. What he didn't say was that he was sick. That's why his clammy hands couldn't grip the baseball, which made him struggle with his change-up and slider. He lasted just 2 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits. In retrospect, he said he wished he thrown more two-seam fastballs.

Wei-Yin Chen didn't come to the Orioles with the reputation of being a strikeout pitcher, but after Sunday afternoon's record-breaking performance, perhaps that may begin to change. The 27-year-old lefty from Taiwan has often deflected attention during his rookie season, repeatedly saying through his interpreter that he's more concerned with team wins than individual stats. In the top of the sixth inning of the Orioles' 6-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, the announced crowd of 19,698 at Camden Yards was giving Chen a standing ovation after he fanned Josh Reddick for his 12th strikeout of the game.

FREDERICK -- Fresh off a scoreless frame in the MLB Futures Game, a showpiece for the world's top prospects, Orioles phenom Dylan Bundy continued his steady progress through the Carolina League on Saturday night against the Carolina Mudcats (CLE).  Bundy fanned eight batters in five two-hit innings, allowing an unearned run and walking one for the High A Frederick Keys. With the performance, Bundy lowered his season ERA to 3.15, though when he left the game, Bundy was in line for the loss.

After two very expensive (to taxpayers) trials, Roger Clemens is found guilty of nothing ("Jury acquits ex-pitcher of all 6 charges," June 19). When will theU.S. Department of Justice stop this nonsense and waste of our resources with this grandstanding and justification of a job? F. Cordell, Lutherville

TORONTO -- Mike Mussina set a few milestones yesterday, just not the one he coveted most.The Orioles, whose last 20-game winner was Mike Boddicker in 1984, carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning yesterday, and Mussina was on the verge of winning 20 for the first time in his career. But Armando Benitez allowed a game-tying home run in the ninth to leave Mussina with a no-decision.Earlier in the game, Mussina set an Orioles record for strikeouts in a season with 204, breaking Dave McNally's mark of 202 set in 1968.

SEATTLE -- Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis knew he had struck out quite a few times in recent games, he just didn't know how bad it had gotten. "How many do I have now, 30?" Markakis asked before last night's game. Markakis, who who hit the game-winning home run in the eighth inning last night, actually has 21 strikeouts, including seven in the past three games. During one stretch that ended Tuesday, Markakis struck out in five straight at-bats. He has also struck out in nine of the past ten games.

The Orioles' roster-move revolving door continued before Sunday's 9-8 series-finale loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. As expected, the club purchased the contract of outfielder Xavier Avery from Triple-A Norfok. In two corresponding moves, the Orioles optioned right-handed reliever Stu Pomeranz back to Norfolk to make room on the 25-man roster and also designated Norfolk infielder Matt Antonelli for assignment to clear space on the organization's 40-man roster. The 22-year-old Avery made his major league debut Sunday, batting leadoff and starting in left field.

We already know that new Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette has been looking to upgrade the team's on-base percentage when making moves this season. And when Duquette explained Monday's trade of starter Jeremy Guthrie to Colorado for starter Jason Hammel and reliever Matt Lindstrom, he pointed to another key stat he's tried to focus his moves on: strikeout-to-walk ratio. In acquiring Hammel and Lindstrom, Duquette said, he was continuing to acquire pitchers with a strikeout-to-walk ratio close to 3-to-1.