Indians Lookback: Corey Kluber K's 18 Cardinals in 2015 Victory

Corey Kluber had a tough start to the 2015 season starting 0-5, but on a crisp night at Progressive Field in front of 12,313 fans, Kluber was masterful, using his two-seam sinker better than ever in striking out 18 St.Louis Cardinals batters in a Tribe 2-0 win. The 18 K's ties Bob Feller for most strikeouts in one game all-time for the Indians.

Corey Kluber had a lot of memorable moments as a member of the Cleveland Indians, pitching as the ace of the franchise for most of the last nine seasons.

The native of Birmingham, Alabama is now a former Indian, as the team dealt him to the Texas Rangers this January after a 2019 season that saw him only pitch in seven games due to injury.

The Indians got a lot out of Kluber in the nine seasons he was with the franchise, including two Cy Young seasons, and a total of 98 regular season wins.

Maybe the most memorable win for Kluber came five years ago today, May 13 2015 at Progressive Field, as the ace of the Tribe staff oddly enough was still in search of his first win of the season.

The Indians had gotten off to a very slow start in 2015, as the team went just 7-14 in the first month of the season.

Kluber was inconsistent in 2015 to start the year, as he would have a start looking great, like opening day when he went toe-to-toe with the Houston Astros, allowing two runs on three hits in 7.1 innings in a hard luck 2-0 loss.

His first three starts saw Kluber allow just six runs in 21.1 innings with 25 strikeouts, but he was 0-1 with a pair of no-decisions.

He struggled in his next four starts, all in which he took losses to drop to 0-5. In those four games Kluber gave up 19 earned runs, a far cry from his first three starts of the year.

It led to May 13, as the Indians at 11-20 were in the middle of a three-game set against the St.Louis Cardinals, a team that the Tribe normally doesn’t see being in the National League.

The night before in the first game of the series the Cardinals, who entered the three game set with the best record in the Majors, beat up Carlos Carrasco in taking home an 8-3 win.

12,313 fans came to Progressive Field for this Tuesday night 6:10pm affair, most still wearing heavier or even winter jackets, as the temp at first pitch was just 50 degrees, and the temperature dropped throughout the night to 45 when the last pitch was tossed.

No one could have expected with the way the season had gone to this point to see what they saw that night, a game where Kluber was simply unhittable.

The righty had everything working, with his two-seam sinker fooling Cardinals hitters all night.

The result, Kluber tied the Indians record for most strikeouts in a 9-inning game, set by Bob Feller in 1938 – 18 K’s.

"Any time that you throw your name in there with Bob Feller, that's obviously very humbling and a great accomplishment,” Kluber said after the game.

“More so important is obviously getting the win."

Maybe the most amazing part was Kluber didn’t need nine innings to get to 18 strikeouts, he did it in eight innings before he was pulled at 113 pitches for Cody Allen to get the save in the ninth in the Indians 2-0 win.

Kluber was staked to a 2-0 lead in the first when Brandon Moss and David Murphy each singled in runs. He had struck out a pair of Cardinals in the first inning, setting the tone for the night.

The third inning is when fans and media really started to see just how good of stuff Kluber had, as he struck out the side for K’s 4-5-6 on the night.

The Tribe wasn’t doing much against Cardinals starter John Lackey, so Kluber never really had a lot of time to sit back and think about his numbers.

After striking out the side on 14 pitches in the third inning, Kluber was at it again in the fourth, needing 16 pitches to record three more strikeouts, Matt Carpenter, Pete Kozma and former Indian Jhonny Peralta.

With nine K’s already and a 2-0 lead, to say that Kluber was in a groove was an understatement.

The fifth inning finally saw St.Louis get the bat on the ball, as Jason Heyward flew out to center on a 2-2 pitch for the first out.

Then though came another two strikeouts, as Kluber punched out Yadier Molina and Matt Adams on 0-2 and 1-2 pitches for K’s 10 and 11 through five.

There might not have been a lot of fans at Progressive Field, but those on hand were on their feet with each K for Kluber.

The sixth inning saw Kluber throw just 10 pitches, getting one-time Indian Mark Reynolds looking on a 2-2 pitch, then struck out Peter Bourjus swinging on a 1-2 pitch.

Kolten Wong swung at the first pitch, grounding out to short to end the 6th inning with Kluber sitting at 13 strikeouts.

Kluber matched his career-high for strikeouts in a game at 14 with the first out in the seventh inning, getting Carpenter swinging on a 3-2 pitch.

While the strikeouts were amassing, the Cardinals also had not gotten a hit entering the seventh, so while there was records being looked up on almost every K in the press box, Kluber quietly was also throwing a no-hitter against the team with the best mark in baseball.

Strikeout 15 came on a 2-2 swinging miss by Kozma, bringing up Peralta with two outs in the frame.

The ex-Indian got ahead 2-0 in the count, and finally broke up the no-hitter with a single to center between short and second.

Fans again gave Kluber a standing ovation for reaching that point, but he and the Indians still had a game to win up just 2-0.

The dangerous Jason Heyward was coming up, and while he got to 2-2 on Kluber, it was again a two-seam sinker that got him swinging, and with strikeout 16 the Cardinals seventh was over.

The Indians got a hit in the seventh, but three grounders ended the inning, setting up Kluber who was at 101 pitches, to come back out for the 8.

Facing the six, seven and eight hitters for the Cardinals, Kluber got Molina to a 1-2 count and struck him out looking for strikeout number 17.

Matt Adams surprised everyone with a deep shot to center field, likely the best hit of the night for St.Louis, but it was nothing more than the second out in the 8.

The final batter Kluber faced was Reynolds, who fell behind 1-2 and never had a chance, swinging away at strike three to end the inning and become the 18 and final victim for Kluber.

Cody Allen needed just 11 pitches to get the save in the 9, making sure all of Kluber’s work would not be wasted as he earned the win in the 2-0 victory.

Putting in perspective the 18 strikeout night for Kluber, he joined just four other pitchers who struck out 18 in eight innings – Randy Johnson (three times), Roger Clemens (twice) Ramon Martinez and Kerry Wood.

"Everything," Indians manager Terry Francona said when asked what Kluber had working.

"He elevated. He cut it. He spun it. He two-seamed it. He had everything going."

Even the Cardinals gave Kluber his due after the game, as there was no question his outing was one for the ages.

"I think we got a taste of why he won the Cy Young last year," Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter said.

"His numbers this season don't reflect how good of a pitcher he is. He was as good, if not better, than anybody I've ever faced in the big leagues."

There were plenty more memorable games for Kluber over the last four seasons with the Tribe, but it is hard to argue that his outing five years ago on this day was not his best. 

Ks for days. #LightsOut https://t.co/vbs6cTr81A

— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2015