GIFs of the Week: Dan Haren K's 14 Mariners

He may be a free agent, and possibly have pitched his last game as an Angel, but on May 24 of this past season, Dan Haren had one of his best games of his Halo career when he tossed a 4-hit shutout against the Seattle Mariners. In that game, Haren struck out a career-high 14 batters, including the 1500th of his ten-year career. At the time of this game, Haren had lost his previous 4 decisions and had an ERA of 4.37, however he went on to win 5 of his next seven starts before going on the disabled list with a sore back.

Strikeout #1

Alex Liddi - Swinging
83.3 MPH Splitter
Pitch #8

Haren made quick work of Liddi, striking him out on 3 pitches.

Strikeout #2

Kyle Seager - Swinging
83.2 MPH Splitter
Pitch #15

Strikeout #3

Miguel Olivo - Swinging
85.1 MPH Splitter
Pitch #26

Strikeout #4

Alex Liddi - Swinging
84.7 MPH Splitter
Pitch #43

Strikeout #5

Ichiro Suzuki - Swinging
89.4 MPH Fastball
Pitch #48

Ichiro tried to go the other way with this Haren fastball, but the pitch tailed away out of his reach.

Strikeout #6

Jesus Montero - Swinging
84.6 MPH Splitter
Pitch #54

His splitter was working this night, as this was the sixth straight swinging K on a Haren split-finger fastball.

Strikeout #7

Mike Carp - Looking
89.7 MPH Fastball
Pitch #59

Carp never took the bat off of his shoulder as he stood and watched 3 called strikes (all fastballs).

Strikeout #8

Brendan Ryan - Looking
89.5 MPH Fastball
Pitch #70

This Haren fastball may have been a bit low, but when a pitcher is around the plate as consistently as Haren was this night, he'll typically get the borderline calls.

Strikeout #9

Alex Liddi - Swinging
85.1 MPH Splitter
Pitch #77

Haren is a little pumped after striking out Liddi and stranding a runner on second.

Strikeout #10

Jesus Montero - Swinging
83.4 MPH Splitter
Pitch #87

Watch as catcher Bobby Wilson signals Haren to shake-off the pitch in order to confuse Montero.

Strikeout #11

Mike Carp - Looking
89.3 MPH Fastball
Pitch #94

Haren may have gotten away with a pitch out over the plate, but this was the 7th pitch of the at-bat and Carp must have been expecting another splitter after seeing 3 before Haren threw this fastball.

Strikeout #12

Michael Saunders - Looking
89.5 MPH Fastball
Pitch #104

Saunders was frozen by an inside fastball that drifted back over the plate. Notice Wilson didn't have to move as Haren threw the pitch right to his glove.

This was Haren's 1500th strikeout of his career

Strikeout #13

Alex Liddi - Swinging
84.0 MPH Splitter
Pitch #116

Poor Alex Liddi. He came to the plate four times and struck out swinging four times on Haren's splitter, making contact just twice when he managed to foul-off two pitches.

Strikeout #14

Ichiro Suzuki - Swinging
89.1 MPH Fastball
Pitch #122

Haren's final strikeout came against Suzuki when he foul-tipped a fastball into Wilson's glove.

This post is sponsored by Jack in the Box.