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Red Sox get strikeout-happy, set MLB record with 11 straight

The Boston Red Sox are on a heckuva hot streak right now. They’ve won 11 straight games, and Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays was a barn burner. It went 10 innings, and the Red Sox scored the winning run when Dustin Pedroia danced around home plate to avoid the tag until the ball was dropped and the umpire called him safe. But Pedrioa’s home plate dancing wasn’t the only cool thing to happen during the game, though.

Starting with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Red Sox pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez and Heath Hembree combined to strike out 11 straight batters. That’s a new MLB record, surpassing the one set on April 22, 1970 by Tom Seaver when he was with the New York Mets. Seaver struck out 10 straight San Diego Padres that day, and until Sunday that record stood.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez delivers the ball to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
Eduardo Rodriguez starting his strikeout-tastic day. (AP Photo)

Rodriguez struck out the last six batters he faced in his 5.1 inning start. He got one looking and the other five swinging, and struck out 13 total Rays for his first double-digit strikeout game of the year. Then reliever Heath Hembree took over and struck out all five batters he faced. He got one looking and four swinging.

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Rodriguez and Hembree weren’t the only strikeout-happy members of the Red Sox. Their pitching staff combined for 23 strikeouts over 10 innings. Matt Barnes got one strikeout in the eighth inning, and then Joe Kelly struck out two in the ninth and two in the tenth. And all those strikeouts almost set another major league record: according to ESPN, 21 strikeouts over nine innings is a record, but it won’t count since the game went ten innings.

I think the Red Sox would rather have the win than the record, don’t you? Especially since Sunday’s victory lowered their magic number to clinch the AL East to two. But it’s nice to make some history along the way.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher