Corey Kluber of the Indians had a very historic night. The Cleveland Indians played the St Louis Cardinals which started as an ordinary game, but this game was anything but ordinary. Pitcher Corey Kluber did the unthinkable, in just eight short  innings he managed to strike out 18 batters. This performance was one of the greatest 8 innings of baseball ever pitched.

Only one Indians pitcher in the last 100 years had more strikeouts in a game — Luis Tiant, who had 19 in 1968. And no pitcher in Major League Baseball had struck out 18 in over a decade. This was an unbelievable pitching performance.

There is something called a game score for pitchers that measures the effectiveness of a pitchers start. An average score would be a 50. Many pitchers who throw complete games or have great starts might get an 80. Kluber received a 98 after his performance. The highest score over 100 years for an eight inning game.

Also, with more than 100 pitches Kluber and his coach decided not to put him in for the ninth inning. Who knows what Kluber could have done. The only other pitcher to allow one hit and no walks with 18 or more strikeouts was Kerry Wood in 1998. Wood had 20 strikeouts in 9 innings.

If Kluber had pitched that ninth inning he might have beaten that record if he had struck out the side. Still, Kluber pitched the game of his life and this is why he was the Cy Young winner last year. Kluber put on a clinic against the Cardinals and this game will be remembered forever. A pitcher can really control a game and Kluber showed the Cardinals why he belongs in the MLB.