Fastball

Chicago Cubs Lefty Falls Just Short of Strikeout History on Thursday

The Chicago Cubs rolled over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday but lefty Justin Steele fell just shy of some fun history with regards to strikeouts.

Brady Farkas

Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele (35) throws a first inning pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 11.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele (35) throws a first inning pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 11. / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
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The Chicago Cubs rolled over the Baltimore Orioles 8-0 on Thursday at Camden Yards. It was a good win for the Cubs, who are still tied for last place in the National League Central.

On the contrary, Baltimore is in first place in the vaunted American League East. The Cubs are 45-49 while Baltimore is 57-36.

Behind the win for the Cubs was left-handed pitcher Justin Steele, who went 7.0 innings. He allowed three hits and no walks while striking out four. He's now 2-3 on the year with a 2.71 ERA.

With the four strikeouts, Steele fell just shy of joining some fun team history.

@StatsCentre put this out on social media before Thursday's game:

Continuing to build on the success of his last 2 seasons, @Cubs southpaw Justin Steele takes to the bump later today (on his 29th birthday) with a sub-3.00 ERA and 77 strikeouts in just 13 games this season. With at least 6 tonight vs BAL, he'd tie for 5th on this franchise list

Steele now has 81 strikeouts on the year, which is shy of what Cole Hamels (83), Jon Lester (86), Rube Waddell (86), Jon Lester (92) and Jose Quintana (98) did through their first 14 starts of seasons.

The 29-year-old Steele is 26-19 for his career, which began in 2021. The Mississippi native was selected by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of the Mississippi high school ranks.

He made the All-Star Game in 2023.

The Cubs will play the Cardinals on Friday night at 8:15 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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