On Thursday, Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Doug Fister set an American League record when he struck out nine consecutive batters. When asked if he knew if he was making history, Fister replied " "Honestly, I had no idea."
He may not have been aware of the record, but that's not for a lack of effort on the part of his teammates. Fister had the following to say about Prince Fielder, who was trying to let him know what he'd just done during the inning:
"He was yelling at me to step off during the inning, and I kind of looked at him. Normally, he’ll do that, to slow me down, if I’m getting too quick, as an older guy, kind of helping me out."
Fister would end up inducing a groundout to the next batter he'd face, ending his consecutive strikeout streak at nine. That total left him one strikeout short of tying Tom Seaver's major league record of ten which was set in 1970.
Fister found out about the record when he got back into the Tigers' dugout, as did his catcher Alex Avila:
"I didn't even realize it until they announced it. You don't realize those things when you're playing. That's pretty incredible."
While Fister may have just missed the major league record, he and the Tigers took another step towards winning the AL Central title with the victory on Thursday. They'll look to continue their winning ways Friday in Minnesota when they take on the Twins.