PHOENIX -- D-backs starter Zack Greinke reached 2,000 career strikeouts in Wednesday's 10-9, 11-inning win over the Braves, when he fanned Freddie Freeman to open the fourth inning.
"I guess I don't really think about it at the moment, but it is a pretty big number," Greinke said.
Greinke, the 78th pitcher in MLB history to reach the milestone, punched out five Braves over six innings. The right-handed ace's strikeout of Freeman, his last of the night, was also his 113th of the season, which is his first with Arizona.
After Greinke got Freeman to swing at a low slider, the ball was tossed to the dugout for the right-hander to keep. However, Greinke isn't sure yet what he will do with it.
"I don't know, I guess I've got to find it first," Greinke said. "I'll probably leave it up to the family."
According to STATS, LLC, Greinke is the sixth-fastest among active pitchers to reach the milestone, achieving the feat in 385 games.
Greinke has a career 3.74 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which ranks fourth best among pitchers with at least 2,000 strikeouts.
Even though Greinke was in line for the win when he exited after six innings, it wasn't one of his best outings. He allowed four earned runs on six hits and issued three walks.
"He made some mistakes, admittedly didn't feel like he was on his game," manager Chip Hale said. "On the mental side of it, made some pitches he shouldn't have made it. But he gave us six, which is important."