Greatest Moments in Marlins History: #68 Ricky Sits Down How Many In A Row?

March 17, 2012; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco (47) throws in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome back to the Greatest Moments in Marlins History. Moment 69 left you with a bit of a cliffhanger. Yes Ricky Nolasco set the Marlins single game strikeout record with 16 K’s, but we did say Ricky accomplished another Marlins feat that game too. With moment 68 we bring you the Marlins consecutive strikeout record by Ricky on September 30, 2009 against the Atlanta Braves.

The streak started in the bottom of the 3^rd inning with Adam LaRoche going down on a drop 3^rd strike. Next up for Ricky was Matt Diaz, who went down swinging on a 1-2 count. The pitcher Javier Vazquez was Ricky’s next victim, who sat down on a 2-2 count looking! The 3^rd inning it was 3 up, 3 down, all strike outs.

The bottom of the 4^th wasn’t much different. Nate McLouth was up to bat and went down swinging with a 3-2 count. Martin Prado tried to stop the streak at four but had no luck as he went down swinging as well. Up next was Mr. Braves himself, Chipper Jones. Was he the one to end Ricky’s streak? Nope, he struck out swinging on a 1-2 count. That is 2 innings and 6 batters all going down striking out!

Now we move on to the 5^th inning. Brain McCann was set to stop Ricky from striking out another Brave, but he had the same result as the 6 before him, strikeout! Garret Anderson tried not to be Brave number 8 in a row, but he went down swinging on a 1-2 count. The inning came to an end with 0-2 count that ended with Yunel Escobar swinging and missing for strike 3 and Ricky’s 9^th consecutive strikeout, a new Marlins record!

LaRoche would stop the streak in the bottom of the 5^th with a leadoff double, but the damage was and Ricky adds another Marlins record to his career.

All this talk about strikeouts makes me want to talk some more. Join me tomorrow as we look at another Marlins strikeout record. Which one? Only one way to find out.