Ducks' Trevor Bauer sets single-game franchise record with 15 strikeouts
His ERA fell to a wondrous 1.13 with the Ducks after seven shutout innings last Thursday against the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. The next day, Trevor Bauer was back on his popular X feed, pitching a kind of “sign me for free” minor-league audition to the majors’ 30 teams.
But, as has been the case since the Dodgers released him in January of 2023 after his long suspension, the 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner went unsigned by a big-league team.
His seven-inning no-hitter at Lancaster on April 26 in his second start hadn’t made a dent. Nor had continued dominant pitching in the next two.
And so he was back in the land of the Ducks on Tuesday night for his fifth start, throwing at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip against the Gastonia Ghost Peppers in the opener of a six-game Atlantic League series.
Bauer dominated again in a 6-3 win, setting the Ducks’ all-time single-game record with 15 strikeouts. He yielded three runs, two of them earned, five hits and just one walk over eight innings.
So is this the outing that’s going to finally lead to a major-league organization giving him another chance? The 35-year-old righty, with four straight victories, a 4-1 record and an ERA that rose to a still-wondrous 1.41, surely isn’t counting on that.
“I just don’t know what I could possibly do at this point,” Bauer told Newsday. “Like, everyone with half a brain knows exactly what’s going on.
“Like I said before, I can strike out literally every batter I faced and I don’t think it would change anything. So I try to focus on having fun here and a cool night and not think about that situation, because it’s just really unfair.”
The reality is, he has that 194-game suspension behind him for a deemed violation of MLB’s domestic violence/sexual assault policy despite his denials of misconduct. After his first start, he said he was being “blackballed” and that he wasn’t “allowed to play Major League Baseball.”
He’s making the best of his time on Long Island.
“He has an unbelievable amount of confidence in himself with everything he does,” Gavin Collins, the catcher for all of Bauer’s starts, told Newsday during batting practice.
The Ducks’ strikeout record was 14, set multiple times. Now, it’s Bauer’s property.
“It was great,” he said. “It was one of my goals, actually more of a goal than the no-hitter was. To be able to set that and actually come out and do it was cool. I still want to get the Atlantic League record (now at 17). I’ve got the Mexican one. I’d like to get 18 at some point.”
Bauer stranded a runner at third and posted three Ks in the first. He served up two solo homers in the third and was charged with an unearned run in the sixth. By the end of seven, he had thrown 105 pitches and owned 13 Ks.
“I had to talk my way out for the eighth,” Bauer said of convincing manager Lew Ford.
Anthony Prato led off and went down swinging — Ducks record tied.
Justin Wylie stepped in next and went down swinging — Ducks record set.
“I tried to talk my way into going out for the ninth,” Bauer said. “If I strike out the side there, I have the all-time (Atlantic League) record. I think cooler heads prevailed.”
Bauer finished at 117 pitches, 79 for strikes.
“I think I had pretty good fastball control,” Bauer said. “My curveball was really good tonight. … The splitter was really good tonight, too.”
Besides the positive pitching, Collins has seen him being a positive, helpful person in the clubhouse.
“He’s been a great teammate,” said Collins, who was in Triple A in the Cardinals’ chain last year and backed him with four hits, including two homers, and four RBIs.
But is the 10-year major-league vet still a major league-caliber pitcher?
“Oh yeah,” Collins said. “In my mind, absolutely.”
Hogan moves on
The Ducks released Melville’s Matt Hogan. The outfielder out of Hills East was off to a 2-for-17 start.
