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Yankees' Betances breaks Rivera's strikeout record

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

If it seems like Dellin Betances has struck out batters at an historic pace this year, it's because he has.

The hard-throwing right-hander ingrained himself in New York Yankees lore Wednesday after striking out Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier to break Mariano Rivera's team record for most punchouts by a reliever.

[Courtesy: MLB.com]

Betances added one more "K" in the eighth inning to up his total to 132 for the season - besting Rivera's mark of 130 set in 1996. Perhaps most impressive about the feat is the incredible pace Betances has struck batters out this season.

Here's a comparison between the two Yankee relievers' record-setting seasons:

YEAR PLAYER IP ERA SO K%
2014 Dellin Betances 87.2 1.33 132 40.0%
1996 Mariano Rivera 107.2 2.09 130 30.6 %

Entering play Wednesday, Betances led all major-league relievers in FanGraphs' wins above replacement with 3.1.

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