Former Ole Miss pitcher Lance Lynn joins MLB’s 2,000-strikeout club

Former Ole Miss pitcher Lance Lynn hit a historic stage on Tuesday when he recorded his 2,000th strikeout as a professional.

Lynn, the 89th pitcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat, entered the St. Louis Cardinals’ game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with 1,998 career strikeouts. In five scoreless innings, the right-hander hit two strikeouts to reach the magic number.

Number 2000 for Lance Lynn! pic.twitter.com/B9oKHa8geu

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 23, 2024

After striking out Nick Gonzales in the third inning, Lynn brought in Jared Triolo with a fastball to end the fourth inning. The only problem was that St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras didn’t immediately recognize the significance of the moment and threw the ball into the stands. A quick realization and some successful negotiation by Contreras resulted in a Pirates fan trading the milestone baseball for a bat.

To get Lance Lynn’s 2,000th strikeout ball back, Willson Contreras got to work. 😂 pic.twitter.com/osnhtfd0x1

— MLB (@MLB) July 24, 2024

Hopefully that ball is now safe somewhere, ready to find a place on Lynn’s shelves. The Cardinals won the game 2-1 and will look to win the series on Wednesday. Lynn, who is in his 14th season, joins five other active players with 2,000 or more career strikeouts: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole.