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Judge sets single postseason strikeout record in Yankees' defeat

Troy Taormina / USA TODAY Sports

There is every reason to believe that Aaron Judge will be setting a lot of notable postseason records in a New York Yankees uniform for many Octobers to come.

For now, though, he's going home with a dubious postseason record hanging around his neck.

Judge - who is all but assured of being named American League Rookie of the Year next month - finished his first October run having set a new major-league record for strikeouts in a single postseason with 27 Ks. That breaks the previous mark of 26, set by Alfonso Soriano during the Yankees' 2003 playoff run.

Judge passed Soriano on Saturday when Houston's Lance McCullers Jr. got him swinging to end the eighth inning. It was also his 11th strikeout of the ALCS, one shy of the single-series mark for a league championship series.

The 25-year-old - whose 16 Ks in the AL Division Series set a single-series playoff record for any round - struck out at least once in 12 of his 13 playoff games played, with the AL wild-card game against Minnesota being the lone exception. With his team being eliminated in the ALCS, Judge is now the only player in playoff history to have struck out at least 20 times on a playoff team that failed to reach the World Series.

20+ strikeouts in a single postseason

Rk. Player Year/Team SO Rslt.
1 Aaron Judge 2017 Yankees 27 Lost ALCS
2 Alfonso Soriano 2003 Yankees 26 Lost WS
3 Pat Burrell 2010 Giants 22 Won WS
4 Kris Bryant 2016 Cubs 21 Won WS
4 Javier Baez 2016 Cubs 21 Won WS
4 Ryan Howard 2009 Phillies 21 Lost WS
4 Jim Edmonds 2004 Cardinals 21 Lost WS
4 Mike Napoli 2013 Red Sox 21 Won WS
4 Mike Napoli 2016 Indians 21 Lost WS
10 Devon White 1997 Marlins 20 Won WS
10 Evan Longoria 2008 Rays 20 Lost WS
10 David Wright 2015 Mets 20 Lost WS
10 Lucas Duda 2015 Mets 20 Lost WS

(Courtesy: Baseball-Reference)

Despite now owning this dubious record, Judge still had a productive ALCS at the plate. His three homers, seven RBIs, and 1.065 OPS during the seven-game ALCS led all hitters on both the Yankees and Astros.

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