Chicago Cubs Cy Young contender Justin Steele added to his resume on Monday afternoon with a dominating performance against the San Francisco Giants. The southpaw tossed eight innings of two-hit baseball while striking out a dozen batters. This performance puts him on a short list of left-handed pitchers to record 12+ strikeouts during an outing at Wrigley Field.
Justin Steele struck out 12 San Francisco Giants players, which makes him one of four Chicago Cubs left-handed pitchers to have a game of 12+ strikeouts at Wrigley Field.
According to Codify the other three Cubs southpaws to have a 12+ strikeout game at Wrigley Field are Hippo Vaughn, Ken Holtzman, and Jon Lester. Vaughn accomplished this in 1918, Holtzman 1971, and Lester 2015. Let’s take a look at the individual performances from the other three players.
Hippo Vaughn recorded exactly 12 strikeouts against the Cincinnati Reds in 1918 in which he threw all nine innings. Ken Holtzman threw a 12 inning shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates, recorded exactly 12 punch outs, and the Cubs won by a score of 1-0. Lastly, Jon Lester punched out 14 Colorado Rockies in eight innings of work.
For Justin Steele this victory now ties him for the league lead in wins with 16 and lowered his season ERA to 2.55. So long as he finishes the final month of the season out strong he should be a Cy Young finalist and has a good chance at winning the award.
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