Max Scherzer’s 20 Strikeout Performance More Impressive Than A No Hitter

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer struck out 20 batters last night in his team's 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. In many ways, it's more impressive than a no hitter.

I stated as much this morning when I walked into work when a co-worker in our sales department responded with, "That's blasphemous."

Blasphemous to who?

Considering Scherzer is only the 4th MLB pitcher to strike out 20 batters in a 9 inning game, he's on sacred ground.

The other three are Roger Clemens (twice), Randy Johnson, and Kerry Wood.

My sales friend kept shouting at the top of his lungs,"BUT HE GAVE UP TWO HOME RUNS! HOW CAN THAT BE BETTER THAN A NO HITTER!"

Not only did he give up two home runs, but he gave up 6 hits. Guess what? It doesn't change the fact that he "STRUCK OUT 20 BATTERS!", I yelled in response.

While Scherzer belongs to a club of 4, there have been 295 no-hitters in the history of Major League Baseball.

In the last calendar year, there has been 8 no hitters, with Scherzer throwing two of them.

Maybe the most impressive part of Scherzer's 20 K performance was the number of pitches it took him to do it. Only 119, fewer than any of the other four 20 K games in league history. Plus, he only throw 23 balls with an 80.7 strikeout percentage.

No hitters are special. A 20 strikeout game is extraordinarily exclusive.