  in baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a batter during his time at bat. eighteen different pitchers have struck out at least 18&nbsp;batters in a single nine-inning major league baseball (mlb) game as of 2013, the most recent being ben sheets of the milwaukee brewers on may 16, 2004. four players have accomplished the feat more than once in their career; no player has ever struck out more than 20&nbsp;batters in a game. charlie sweeney was the first player to strike out 18&nbsp;batters in a single game, doing so for the providence grays against the boston beaneaters on june 7, 1884.{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/?id=5yrpip8e7kwc&pg=pa15&lpg=pa15&dq=charlie+sweeney+19+strikeouts#v=onepage&q=charlie%20sweeney%2019%20strikeouts&f=false|title=the braves encyclopedia|date=october 25, 1995|publisher=temple university press|first=gary|last=caruso|pages=15|accessdate=dec
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