There have been 34 18-strikeout games in the modern era (1901 onward), measured across 223,202 games — one every 6,564 games. The most recent was Max Scherzer on 11 May 2016; the first was Rube Foster on 1 September 1904.
| Date | Player | # | Game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-05-11 | Max Scherzer | 20 | 34 | ↗ |
| 2015-05-13 | Corey Kluber | 18 | 33 | ↗ |
| 2004-05-16 | Ben Sheets | 18 | 32 | ↗ |
| 2001-05-08 | Randy Johnson | 20 | 31 | ↗ |
| 1998-08-25 | Roger Clemens | 18 | 30 | ↗ |
| 1998-05-06 | Kerry Wood | 20 | 29 | ↗ |
| 1997-08-08 | Randy Johnson | 19 | 28 | ↗ |
| 1997-06-24 | Randy Johnson | 19 | 27 | ↗ |
| 1996-09-18 | Roger Clemens | 20 | 26 | ↗ |
| 1992-09-27 | Randy Johnson | 18 | 25 | ↗ |
| 1991-10-06 | David Cone | 19 | 24 | ↗ |
| 1990-06-04 | Ramon Martinez | 18 | 23 | ↗ |
| 1986-04-29 | Roger Clemens | 20 | 22 | ↗ |
| 1980-09-10 | Bill Gullickson | 18 | 21 | ↗ |
| 1978-06-17 | Ron Guidry | 18 | 20 | ↗ |
| 1977-06-08 | Nolan Ryan | 19 | 19 | ↗ |
| 1976-09-10 | Nolan Ryan | 18 | 18 | ↗ |
| 1974-08-20 | Nolan Ryan | 19 | 17 | ↗ |
| 1974-08-12 | Nolan Ryan | 19 | 16 | ↗ |
| 1974-06-14 | Nolan Ryan | 19 | 15 | ↗ |
| 1970-04-22 | Tom Seaver | 19 | 14 | ↗ |
| 1969-09-15 | Steve Carlton | 19 | 13 | ↗ |
| 1968-07-14 | Don Wilson | 18 | 12 | ↗ |
| 1968-07-03 | Luis Tiant | 19 | 11 | ↗ |
| 1965-10-02 | Chris Short | 18 | 10 | ↗ |
| 1965-06-14 | Jim Maloney | 18 | 9 | ↗ |
| 1962-09-12 | Tom Cheney | 21 | 8 | ↗ |
| 1962-04-24 | Sandy Koufax | 18 | 7 | ↗ |
| 1959-08-31 | Sandy Koufax | 18 | 6 | ↗ |
| 1952-06-14 | Warren Spahn | 18 | 5 | ↗ |
| 1938-10-02 | Bob Feller | 18 | 4 | ↗ |
| 1910-08-04 | Jack Coombs | 18 | 3 | ↗ |
| 1906-09-01 | Jack Coombs | 18 | 2 | ↗ |
| 1904-09-01 | Rube Foster | 18 | 1 | ↗ |