FROM JOEL SHERMAN

Mariano Rivera has struck out 70 and walked six this year over 61 2-3 innings. That is a ratio of 11.67 strikeouts to every walk. If you think that might be historic, you are right. If Rivera finishes at that rate, it would be the second best ratio for any pitcher who has worked 60 innings in a season since 1900. The only one better would be the staggering 18.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio Dennis Eckersley produced in 1990 for the A’s. The second-best currently, believe it or not, was the 11.00 that Bret Saberhagen produced for the 1994 Mets.

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