New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda struck out 16 batters in Sunday's 6-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, setting a franchise record for the most strikeouts without any walks in a single game, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The 26-year-old improved to 5-0 on the season, allowing one run on six hits over seven innings, with a second-inning home run off the bat of Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy responsible for that lone run.
Pineda threw 81 of his 111 pitches for strikes, getting 21 called strikes, 22 swinging strikes, 27 foul balls and 11 balls in play.
He struck out every member of Baltimore's starting lineup besides Hardy, notching either two or three punchouts in each inning he pitched.
A one point, Pineda struck out six consecutive batters, starting with the final out of the fourth inning and ending with the second out of the sixth.
He tied David Cone and David Wells for the second-highest single-game strikeout total in franchise history, falling short of only Ron Guidry's 18 strikeouts from a June 17, 1978 contest against the California Angels, per MLB Stat of the Day.
After pitching just 76.1 combined innings over the previous three seasons (all in 2014), Pineda looks like an early challenger for Cy Young honors in the American League, boasting a 5-0 record, 2.72 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 54-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio through seven outings (46.1 innings).
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