284 strikeouts...His season was highlighted by yet another historic performance, striking out 20 Detroit Tigers on May 11 to become just the fourth pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game (see info box below)...Was named an All-Star for the fourth consecutive season...He was 10-3 with a 3.03 ERA in the season's first half, won at least 10 games before the All-Star break for the fourth consecutive season...Via the Elias Sports Bureau, over the last 20 years, only two other pitchers reached double digits in wins prior to the break in each of four consecutive seasons: Greg Maddux (1997-2001) and Roy Halladay (2005-11)...The NL's only 20-game winner capped his 2016 on an eight-game winning streak...Washington was 10-0 in those 10 starts (8-0, 3.34 ERA)...From June 1 through the end of the season, he went 15-3 with a 2.44 ERA...Struck out 194 batters, walked 34 and posted a 0.91 WHIP in this 23-game span (0.91 WHIP).Ranked in the National League in strikeouts per 9.0 IP (1st, 12.69), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1st, 7.36), strikeouts (3rd, 243), opp. New York (NL) a then-new career-high and a then-Nationals (2005-pres.) According to Elias, the only other pitcher in major league history who accumulated both as many wins and as many strikeouts as Scherzer through his first 1,000 innings is Pedro Martinez (71 wins and 1,075 strikeouts)...Recorded his 20th win of the season on September 20 versus the Chicago White Sox...became the 24th player in Tigers history to record 20-or-more wins in a season, and the first since Justin Verlander won 24 games in 2011...Limited lefties to a .222 (100x450) average...righties hit .165 (52x316) against him...Finished 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA (31.0IP/10ER) and 39 strikeouts in five games during September...Posted a 12-1 record, a 3.55 ERA (104.0IP/41ER) and 111 strikeouts in 16 starts at home... led the American League in wins, while he was third with 111 strikeouts at home....compiled a 9-2 record, a 2.28 ERA (110.1IP/28ER) and 129 strikeouts in 16 games on the road this season...led the American League with 129 strikeouts on the road, while he finished second with a 2.28 ERA, and tied for second with nine wins...Compiled a 13-1 record and a 3.19 ERA (129.2IP/46ER) and 152 strikeouts in 19 starts prior to the All-Star break...finished 8-2 with a 2.44 ERA (84.2IP/23ER) and 88 strikeouts in 13 games after the break...Earned the win in Game One and Game Four of the 2012 American League Division Series versus Oakland...Established a new franchise record with 34 strikeouts during the 2013 postseason.Put together an historic season en route to earning his second Cy Young Award...In doing so, he became the first player in Nationals history (2005-present) to take home baseball's top pitching honor and just the second in franchise history (Nationals/Expos), joining only Pedro Martinez (1997)... Scherzer led the National league in a majority of the significant pitching categories (see info boxes that follow)...He went 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA in a career-high 34 starts...He tallied a career-high and Nationals record (2005-pres.) I was a staff writer in the Sacramento Bee's sports department for four years beforeVerlander, 36, led the American League with 290 strikeouts last season and finished second in the Cy Young voting. record for most strikeouts in a season...He capped his season with his 300th strikeout on Sept. 25 vs. Miami (Dean)...For more on Scherzer's 300 strikeout-season, see the info box on the following page...Struck out at least 10 batters in 18 of his 33 starts...Struck out at least 10 batters in 10 of his first 15 starts and at least 10 in eight of his last 12 starts. Both could achieve the feat next season. J.D.
... Ky Bowman drops career best 24 points.
Struck out at least seven batters in each of his first seven starts...Became the first player in Detroit history to do so and the first player in the majors to do so since San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum in 2010... On July 12 at Chicago White Sox, making his 179th career start, threw his first career complete game (9.0 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 8 K)...Earned the win in the 2014 All-Star Game...Struck out a season-high 14 batters on Aug. 14 vs.