After matching his career high in strikeouts during his previous start, James Paxton dialed it up a notch on Wednesday night. Paxton, nicknamed Big Maple, did his best “Big Unit” impression becoming the first Mariners pitcher since Randy Johnson (1997) to strikeout 16 over seven innings pitched. Looking dominant from the start, Paxton reached the 16 strikeout plateau with the fewest number of pitches (105) according to statisticians and recorded 25 swing and misses with his fastball alone.

Paxton’s one of three Mariners to accomplish this feat and joins teammate Félix Hernández as one of six to record double digit strikeouts in his last two starts. As for the game performance, Paxton yielded five hits during his seven shutout innings and one walk during his no-decision. Here’s his outing, punctuated by his last pitch hitting 97.4 MPH on the radar according to Statcast:

 

That Just Happened

It seemed like Jacob deGrom had things on cruise control whiffing six Braves in four innings giving up only two hits. Then he left the game after the fourth inning, looking unhappy going down the tunnel. deGrom not only hurt himself during an at-bat, but he left the park to get an MRI to determine the severity of his hyperextended elbow injury. This could be tricky with the elbow being a delicate joint with surrounding ligaments. He could miss a turn in the rotation or be out up to eight weeks depending on how the MRI reads so his owners will be hoping for the best while fearing the worst.

Luis Severino had his repertoire working in Houston turning in his first complete game shutout allowing five hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts. This translates to Houston not scoring for 22 straight innings and Severino generated 17 swinging strikes on 110 pitches with a whopping 23 called strikes as well. Plus, Severino seems to be in good company over the last two seasons in suppressing runs:

Supporting his pitcher, Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs (6,7) off of Dallas Keuchel along with a double driving in all four Yankee runs. Imagine this lineup when he and Gary Sánchez heat up.

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola won his fourth game working 7.1 shutout innings giving up four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. He’s the first Philadelphia pitcher to retire 17 batters in a row since Cole Hamels ’ no-hitter in July of 2015. César Hernández homered among his two hits.

Two nights at lead-off and Bryce Harper homered in each game pushing his season total to 10. He finished with three hits, two runs, a double and three RBI. Matt Adams stayed hot hitting his third home run in the last two games. Stephen Strasburg whiffed 11 en route to his third win; in seven innings he gave up seven hits, three runs (two earned) and a walk. His one regret, Francisco Cervelli ’s fifth home run. Cervelli’s hitting .310 with a .983 on-base plus slugging this year.

Break up the Braves. Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis each recorded three hits with an RBI. Ender Inciarte (1), Johan Camargo (2) and Ryan Flaherty (2) all homered in Atlanta’s win with the offense surging. How hot? They won with Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies going a combined 0-for-10 and still racked up seven runs on 11 hits. By the way, Sean Newcomb won his second game with seven shutout innings and eight strikeouts.

Baltimore pitched to Mike Trout in the first inning and he responded with his 11th home run. He then walked two more times, on the heels of being walked four times on Tuesday. Albert Pujols took two more steps towards his 3,000th hit with his sixth home run and a single. He now needs two more to reach the milestone.

 

Night Moves

Perhaps some good news for Texas with reports Elvis Andrus started his rehab work and could return when eligible on June 11th.

Hyun-Jin Ryu , arguably the Dodgers best starter to this point, left his start with a left groin muscle strain. It’s reported to be a “pretty good one” according to his manager and will land him on the disabled list.

Yankee first baseman Greg Bird ’s set to resume games in Florida as part of his rehab needing 10-to-14 days before returning to the team.

Pirates starter Joe Musgrove will make his second minor league start on Sunday targeting four innings or 65 pitches in Double-A.

More bad news for the Nationals with Daniel Murphy admitting he’s feeling discomfort when he runs. Microfracture injuries can cause lingering issues, so his timetable will set back once again. Adam Eaton ’s still not doing any baseball activities at this time. However, Anthony Rendón will play Thursday in Potomac (Single-A) and potentially only need one or two games prior to rejoining the team.

 

Burning Questions

How long will Jacob deGrom be sidelined? Will Houston score on Thursday versus Masahiro Tanaka ? Can Pujols reach his career achievement versus Chris Tillman later this evening? How many times will Mike Trout walk? Does Bryce Harper stay at lead-off for a third straight game to see fastballs?

 

All of this and much, much more will be covered by Howard Bender in tonight’s Closing Bell on Fantasy Alarm.

 

Statistical Credits:

MLB.com

Fangraphs.com

BaseballSavant.co