Max Scherzer records career strikeout No. 2,000 vs Rangers today in D.C.

With his fifth strikeout of the game this afternoon in his start against the Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer reached 2,000 career Ks.

As the Nationals noted on Twitter, Scherzer is third-fastest pitcher (in terms of innings pitched) to reach 2,000 K, having done so in 1,784th inning.

The quickest?: 1st: RHP Pedro Martinez (1711.1 IP), 2nd: LHP Randy Johnson (1733.1 IP).

With his 2,000th career strikeout, which came on a 1-2 slider to Rangers’ outfielder Nomar Mazara, Scherzer moved into a tie with one-time Padres, Mariners, Cardinals and D-Backs’ starter Andy Benes for 79th on the All-Time list of MLB’s Strikeout Leaders.

Next on the list, at No. 78, is Catfish Hunter, who collected 2,012 Ks in his 15-year career.

Scherzer has collected 679 of his career strikeouts in his three seasons with the Nats after signing a 7-year/$210M deal with Washington in 2015.

Congrats, Max. Well done. For the record, the All-Time strike out leader in MLB history?

Nolan Ryan with 5,714. So, yeah, that’s a lot of Ks, though he did it over a 27-year career, which is kind of astonishing.

Congrats again, Max.