Detroit Tigers pitcher Doug Fister set an American League record on Thursday, going through the entire Kansas City Royals lineup and issuing each member a strikeout in consecutive fashion. The nine straight strikeouts — spanning from Salvador Perez as the last out of the fourth to Billy Butler for the second out of the seventh inning — surpasssed the previous record of eight, set by several pitchers. Tom Seaver owns the National League record with 10.
Not that Fister knew he had etched his name into the history books with his feat. Prince Fielder approached him as the pair walked off the field in the seventh inning and Fister simply shook him off like a pesky telemarketer:
''Honestly, I had no idea,'' Fister told reporters. ''(Fielder) 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. ... I thought that was kind of what he was doing there. He just said, 'Hey, step off.' I look at him, and he kept looking at me, and he said, 'Aw, I'll tell you later.'''
Fister ended up striking out 10 batters and allowing three runs over 7 2/3 innings of work as the Tigers overcame the Royals late effort to tie it and earned a 5-4 walkoff win at Comerica Park. The victory increased Detroit's AL Central lead over the White Sox to 1 1/2 games, though Chicago was scheduled to play Tampa Bay later on Thursday night.
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