The Nationals’ Max Scherzer, in his game against the Detroit Tigers where he struck out a record 20 batters. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

By Carman Tse

Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer found himself in rarefied air on Wednesday night, after tying a Major League record by striking out 20 Tigers batters in 9 innings.

Scherzer joins the company of only three other pitchers to achieve this feat: Roger Clemens (who did it twice), Kerry Wood, and Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. Scherzer, having thrown two no-hitters last year and pitched in the World Series, is no stranger to big moments.

But it was only after striking out Ian Kinsler to end the 8th, and for his eighteenth punchout, that he realized he was on the verge of history.

“Everybody knew I wanted the ball. Everybody was going to give me the ball,” Scherzer said. “It was, ‘Let’s go out there and win this game.'”

While there was no question that Scherzer would be returning to the mound to attempt to finish the game, manager Dusty Baker was almost immediately forced into a difficult decision. On the first pitch of the inning, Tigers right fielder J.D. Martinez crushed it to center field to cut down the Nationals lead to just 3-2. The next batter up was Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, who could have easily tied the game with one swing of the bat, himself. Baker was visibly anxious in the dugout as Scherzer faced one of the best hitters in baseball, and had Nats closer Jonathan Papelbon warming up in the bullpen.

“Tonight was an emotional game, facing a former team and all those guys I have so much respect for,” Scherzer said. “And so to have a game like this against that caliber of hitter on their side, it really puts a feather in my cap.” Scherzer pitched five seasons with the Detroit Tigers before signing a 7-year, $210 million contract with the Nationals before last season. In Detroit, he pitched in the 2012 World Series, was a two-time All-Stard and won a Cy Young Award.

With his 111th pitch, Scherzer reached back for a little extra and whiffed Cabrera with his fastest pitch of the night. For his 19th strikeout, Scherzer got Cabrera swinging on a fastball clocked at 98.1 mph, according to MLB’s Statcast. “He’s the best hitter in the game,” Scherzer said. “To be able to do that against him puts a smile on my face.”

Just three pitches later, the tying run reached base when Victor Martinez got a hit, but Baker stayed in the dugout. Sure, the game was possibly on the line, but history was in the making. “You couldn’t have gotten [Scherzer] off that mound with a crane,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said after the game.

The next batter was strikeout-prone Justin Upton, who Scherzer easily dispatched on three pitches to tie the record. To make history, Scherzer got Upton chasing a particularly nasty slider that was low.

That left only one batter standing between Scherzer and the chance at getting his record-smashing 21st strikeout—but James McCann would spoil that when he grounded out to second baseman Daniel Murphy to end the game. For tonight, 20 will have to do. “The strikeouts are sexy,” said Scherzer. “And to be able to punch out 20—it’s sexy.”

Indeed. Here’s all 20 of those “sexy” strikeouts in 20 seconds.