This Day in Braves History: John Smoltz becomes Atlanta’s all-time strikeouts leader

Braves Franchise History

1902: Baltimore outfielder Kip Selbach sets the post-1900 mark in the American League by making four errors, a mark tied by Braves outfielder Fred Nicholson in 1922.

1914 - Lefty Tyler stops the Reds for a 3-2 Braves win.

1951: In Boston, the Braves score five in the sixth and roll over the Dodgers, 13-4. Warren Spahn picks up his 15th win and his 21st complete game. A second inning homer by Willard Marshall, off Ralph Branca, starts the scoring.

1961: The Phillies rally in the ninth, but strand 11 and lose, 4-3 to Milwaukee. It is their 22nd loss in a row. For the Braves, it is their ninth win in a row. The Phillies have 13 hits off Tony Cloninger, the winner, while Frank Sullivan allows just seven. The Braves score all their runs in the third, the big blow being Frank Thomas’s two-run homer.

1969: At Wrigley Field, Ken Holtzman no-hits the Braves, 3-0, with Ron Santo’s first inning homer providing all the Cubs’ runs

1982: Scheduled to pitch against the Expos in a home game, Braves rookie Pascual Perez misses the start of the game when he can’t find his way to the ballpark. Perez circles on the interstate several times but gets lost. He will be given a Braves jacket with the new number I-85 on it. Phil Niekro takes the mound and wins, 5-4, to run his record to 11-3.

1995: - The Devil Rays name Braves assistant general manager Chuck LaMar as the franchise’s first general manager.

2007: John Smoltz sets the career Atlanta Braves franchise record for strikeouts. He whiffs Mark Reynolds in the third inning of a 6-2-win, one of 13 K’s on the day as he passes Phil Niekro’s old mark of 2,912.

2012: Chad Billingsley wins his sixth straight start, pitching seven innings in a 5-0 win over the Braves. Veteran minor league journeyman Luis Cruz hits his second homer in as many days and Mark Ellis drives in the other four runs.

MLB History

1931: At Chicago, Lefty Grove (25-2) wins his 16th consecutive game, 4-2, tying the American League record set by Walter Johnson and Joe Wood in 1912. Grove holds the Sox scoreless until the ninth, while the A’s score in the second, third, and eighth off Red Faber. Grove has completed all but one of his wins.

2007: Johan Santana sets a team strikeout record, this one for a single game, when he fans 17, two more than the old Minnesota Twins record. Santana throws two-hit ball and walks none in an eight-inning gem to beat Kevin Millwood, 1-0. Michael Cuddyer provides the game’s lone run with his 12th homer of the season. Michael Young, the All-Star shortstop, leads the K crowd by striking out all four times against Santana.

2020: Manny Machado hits a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning to lead the Padres to a 6-3 win over the Rangers. It is the third straight game in which the Padres have hit a grand slam, something not seen in the National League since the 1895 Cleveland Spiders (there had been three instances in the American League, most recently by the 2006 Chicago White Sox). The Padres will hit another slam tomorrow to claim sole possession of the record, as they complete a four-game sweep of the Rangers.

Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.