Red Sox tie MLB strikeout record due to blown dropped 3rd strike

On Wednesday, Chris Sale missed his chance to set a record of nine consecutive starts with 10 or more strikeouts. So, the very next day, the Boston Red Sox decided to set their own strikeout record, in dubious fashion.

Mike Napoli became the 20th member of the Texas Rangers to strike out Thursday when closer Craig Kimbrel fanned the first baseman to close out the ninth inning and cement a 6-2 win. With it, the Red Sox tied the MLB record for the most strikeouts thrown by a single team in a nine-inning game, according to The Providence Journal's Tim Britton.

But the feat didn't come without some controversy.

In the first at-bat of the ninth inning, Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara swung through Kimbrel's off-speed pitch while it simultaneously hit him in the leg. Under MLB rules, Mazara should have immediately been ruled out, except the umpires deemed it a dropped third strike, allowing Mazara to reach first base.

By definition, Mazara became the 17th batter to strike out in the game before being followed up by Jonathan Lucroy, Rougned Odor, and Napoli, who were all struck out by Kimbrel.

The Red Sox, obviously preferring to finish out games quickly rather than chase records, challenged the call on the field. Though the play was reviewable, miscommunication between the umpires and the Replay Official led to it being ruled otherwise.

"The Replay Official and Replay Supervisor misinterpreted the call on the field and incorrectly deemed the play to be non-reviewable The call on the field - of no hit by pitch on a swinging strike three - is a reviewable play under the Replay Regulations," the league said in a statement postgame.

According to Britton, it's the sixth time in major-league history a team has struck out 20 batters in a nine-inning game. The Washington Nationals were the last to accomplish the feat when Max Scherzer did it all by himself, going the distance against the Detroit Tigers on May 11, 2016.

Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz had the bulk of the punch outs on the evening with 11. Reliever Heath Hembree contributed with two, Robby Scott recorded one, and Matt Barnes added two before Kimbrel's four-strikeout ninth inning.

"A lot of powerful stuff from each guy that came in," Red Sox manager John Farrell told MLB.com.

"That's a good hitting team, and they can be explosive. But, again, Drew tonight with 11 in six innings. Kimbrel, he's been on such a run. Matt Barnes looks like he's really getting back on track."