"Pitching in the 370th game of his career, Gausman - who made his major-league debut at the Rogers Centre almost 13 years to the day (May 23, 2013) - entered Monday's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays needing just three strikeouts to reach 2,000. And by the top of the fourth inning, he officially made it."
"The 35-year-old starter punched out a pair of batters in the first and third innings, respectively, putting him just one punchout away as he began the fourth. All he needed was one batter, and the moment was his, as the veteran right-hander struck out Hunter Feduccia on a 94.6-m.p.h. fastball, getting the Rays catcher to swing through it for strike three. But Gausman didn't stop there, also striking out the next batter, Taylor Walls, for the second out of the fourth - on a fastball, too."
"Fittingly, Gausman's 2,000th career strikeout occurred in the same stadium as his first - against Edwin Encarnación during his MLB and Baltimore Orioles debut in '13. He now becomes the sixth active pitcher to accomplish this feat, joining Yu Darvish (2,075), Gerrit Cole (2,251), Chris Sale (2,628), Max Scherzer (3,499) and Justin Verlander (3,554)."
"Despite being a late bloomer, Gausman has been among baseball's most durable starters since his breakout 2021 campaign. He entered Monday night with 972.1 total innings over 166 starts split between the Giants and Blue Jays, sitting second to only San Francisco's Logan Webb (1,016.1) in innings pitched and rotationmate Dylan Cease in games started (170) in that span."
Kevin Gausman became the newest member of baseball’s 2,000 career strikeout club during a series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. He entered the game needing three strikeouts and reached the milestone by the top of the fourth inning. After recording strikeouts in the first and third innings, he struck out Hunter Feduccia on a 94.6 mph fastball for strike three, then retired Taylor Walls on another fastball. The milestone occurred in the same stadium as his major-league debut, the Rogers Centre. Gausman is the sixth active pitcher to reach 2,000 strikeouts, joining Yu Darvish, Gerrit Cole, Chris Sale, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander. He has also been a durable starter since a breakout 2021 season and is in the final year of a five-year, $110 million contract.
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