Yusniel Padron-Artiles sure made a name for himself Thursday night.
A 22nd-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2018, Padron-Artiles struck out 12 consecutive batters in the Lowell Spinners’ 2-1, walk-off win over the Batavia Muckdogs at LeLacheur Park. The 12 consecutive K’s represent both a major league and minor league record, according to the Spinners’ official website, and the performance helped Lowell even its New York-Penn League semifinal series at one game apiece.
Padron-Artiles went six scoreless innings in relief after highly regarded prospect Jay Groome twirled three frames to begin the contest. He struck out 14 overall and surrendered only one hit.
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Tom Seaver, a Hall of Famer and New York Mets legend who made 16 starts for the Red Sox in 1986, holds the major league record with 10 consecutive strikeouts. Padron-Artiles admitted after the game he never heard of Seaver, who retired 11 years before he was born, and that his previous personal record for consecutive strikeouts was eight, a feat he accomplished in Little League.
Padron-Artiles split this season between Low-A Lowell and Single-A Greenville. The 21-year-old went 7-1 with a 2.67 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings in 13 appearances (nine starts) for the Spinners.
A native of Cuba who attended Miami Dade College, Padron-Artiles has flown under the radar to this point in his professional career, with SoxProspects.com saying the 6-foot, 187-pound right-hander “projects as an organizational arm.” Perhaps Thursday’s performance will earn him a little more attention.
The Spinners won Thursday on a walk-off home run by Joe Davis in the ninth inning. They’ll again face the Muckdogs, an affiliate of the Miami Marlins, on Friday night in a winner-take-all Game 3 in Lowell.
