At 41, Rivera is averaging fewer walks and more strikeouts than last season, but for how much longer?
Then, with the entire Yankee lineup struggling to produce runs Wednesday, he went 0 for 3 with two more strikeouts.
He also held the major league record for most games with 15 or more strikeouts in a career (26).
The more strikeouts a pitcher records, the greater share of credit for the achievement he can claim and it is little wonder that the two perfect games with the highest strikeout totals (14 and 13) were thrown by the two best modern pitchers on the list, Mr Koufax and Mr Johnson.
In seven of Frieri's nine appearances for the Angels he has recorded two or more strikeouts, and twice he has struck out the side.
He tried out for an independent team in Tucson and pitched 11 games in 2009, with more strikeouts than innings.
That was almost as noteworthy for the control-minded Lee as his strikeout total: with his career-high 13, he became the first pitcher with three consecutive games of 10 or more strikeouts in the same postseason.
Only six other teams have more strikeouts than hits.
Dotel sparkled for the Cardinals during their run to a championship last fall and is one of several Detroit setup men with more strikeouts than innings.
Vazquez pitched like an ace for the Atlanta Braves last season, going 15-10 with a 2.87 earned run average and more strikeouts (238) than innings (219 1/3).
