Flashback: Roger Clemens ties his own record with 20 strikeouts

Updated Sep 18, 2015 at 3:05p ET


During his Cy Young and MVP season in 1986, Boston Red Sox right-hander Roger Clemens set a major-league single-game record with 20 strikeouts against the Seattle Mariners.

Ten years later — on Sept. 18, 1996 — he matched that total in a dominating performance against the Detroit Tigers.

The Rocket went the distance against the Tigers, throwing 151 pitches in a five-hit, no-walk effort in an era before pitch counts dictated how long a pitcher could remain on the mound. Clemens struck out the side in the second, fifth and sixth innings in Boston's 4-0 win.

Your browser does not support iframes.

The Chicago Cubs' Kerry Wood (May 1998) and the Arizona Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson (May 2001) are the only other pitchers in major-league history to strike out 20 batters in a game.

Clemens finished his 24-season major-league career in 2007 with 4,672 strikeouts –€“ good enough for third place on the all-time list. His seven Cy Young Awards are the most in major-league history, though PED speculation has held his vote totals under 40 percent in each of his three years on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Read more