John Means Achieves Career High Strikeouts in Win

Before pitching against the Tampa Bay Rays in September 2020, Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means had never struck out more than seven batters in a single game. In the Orioles' final home game of the shortened 2020 season, Means struck out 12 batters in five innings of work, helping the team win 2-1 and denying the Rays a clean sweep in the five-game series.

Means' accomplishment was a highlight for his young career. At one point in the game, he tied the franchise record with seven consecutive strikeouts, an achievement that had manager Brandon Hyde complementary of the aggressive and overall impressive performance. According to Hyde, Means' dominance on the mound was fun to watch, and even more meaningful for the young pitcher.

In addition to the 12 strikeouts, pitchers Dillon Tate and Hunter Harvey contributed four more (two strikeouts apiece) to give the Orioles a total of 16, which was one short of the organization's record. Reliever César Valdez had an opportunity to make history in the ninth inning but instead had a clean inning to close it out. Still, the outing was particularly noteworthy for Means as it was another strong start in what was widely seen as a late-season resurgence for a player named as an All-Star in 2019.

According to Means, the secret to the successful outing was his fastball delivery. Before the win against the Rays, his fastball had achieved nine swinging strikes. By the third inning of the win, the fastball brought 16 swinging strikes. Hyde noted the fastball's effectiveness and was appreciative of Means' ability to mix it up with other types of deliveries.

Strong Pitching

For Orioles fans such as Brandon Glickstein, a strong close to the season was representative of the pitching improvement that the Orioles displayed in the season. The 2019 team had the distinction of allowing the most home runs (305) in Major League Baseball (MLB) history, meaning there were few other expectations in 2020 than for the pitching to improve.

That improvement was visible, with the Orioles pitching unit going from the bottom of the league to the middle of the table in most categories. With 79 home runs allowed in 2020, extrapolated numbers for a full season would have been 213 – significantly lower than the 2019 mark. Even with hitters striking out more than usual and offensive woes being felt across the league, the Orioles made significant strides to please fans.