Spencer Strider strikes out 16 as Braves beat Rockies, 3-0

Spencer Strider turned in a historic performance to help lead the Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Strider was locked in from the start. He breezed through the first inning and struck out the side in the second. He added another strikeout in the third and two more in the fourth while sitting down the first 12 hitters he faced.

While Strider was rolling, so was Rockies starter Chad Kuhl. Austin Riley singled with two outs in the first inning, but was left stranded as Kuhl struck out the side. he retired eight straight until Riley struck again with a solo shot left center to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead.

C.J. Cron led off the fifth with a single to give the Rockies their first base runner against Strider. He recovered and struck out Randal Grichuk and Michael Toglia before getting Elias Diaz to hit into a force play to end the inning.

The Braves extended the lead in the home half of the inning. Michael Harris greeted Kuhl with his 14th home run of the season to extend the lead to 2-0.

Vaughn Grissom followed with a solid single to center. After a couple of fly outs by Eddie Rosario and Robbie Grossman, Ronald Acuña Jr. worked a walk. Dansby Swanson made Kuhl pay with a single to right center that scored Grissom to increase the lead to 3-0.

That would end Kuhl’s night as he was replaced by Justin Lawrence who got Riley to ground out to bring the inning to an end.

Strider added two more strikeouts in the sixth and then struck out the side again in the seventh to set a new career-high with his 14th strikeout.

Strider came back out for the eighth and allowed a one-out double to Toglia. He then got Diaz to ground to Swanson, but Matt Olson dropped the throw at first for an error to put runners at the corners. Strider came right back and struck out Elhuris Montero to tie John Smoltz’s Atlanta record with 15 strikeouts. He then set the record by striking out Sean Bouchard for No. 16 to leave the runners stranded.

Strider would give way to Kenley Jansen in the ninth. Strider lowered his ERA to 2.67 with a two-hit, eight scoreless inning performance. He struck out 16 and didn’t walk a batter while throwing 106 pitches. Total domination.

Jansen retired the side in order in the ninth to end the game.

With the win, Atlanta takes the series and improves to 81-51 for the season. They will continue their homestand Friday when they begin a three-game series against the Miami Marlins.