Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy set a franchise single-game record with his 16 strikeouts in Monday’s 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, besting the old record of 15 that Zack Greinke established in 2009, per Sportsnet Stats.
The 27-year-old southpaw turned in one of the truly dominant outings of the 2016 campaign, allowing just one hit and one walk over eight scoreless innings. He only fell short of a complete game because all the strikeouts brought his pitch count up to 110 entering the ninth.
Royals relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera calmly finished off the game with a three-up, three-down inning, boosting Duffy’s record to a sterling 7-1 for the season.
Nearly as impressive as his strikeout total, Duffy induced a whopping 35 missed swings, tying Clayton Kershaw for the most by any pitcher in a single game over the last 15 years, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The Rays made contact on just 25 of their 60 swings against Duffy, with the miss percentage (58.3) setting a standalone record for any starting pitcher over the past 15 years.
The lefty also came close to a no-hitter, making it through seven frames before Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings led off the eighth inning with a double.
While impressive in its own right, Monday’s performance was also part of a larger trend, as Duffy has been phenomenal since he joined the starting rotation in May, posting a 2.98 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in his 15 starts, with 105 strikeouts (and just 18 walks) over 90.2 innings.
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