SAN DIEGO -- With less than a full year’s experience as a big league starter, Spencer Strider already is matching or flirting with records set by Hall of Famers John Smoltz and Nolan Ryan.

Strider carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and became MLB’s strikeout leader while helping the Braves claim an eighth straight victory, 8-1 over the Padres on Tuesday night at Petco Park.

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Strider credited the performance to aggression he regained last week during his start against the Reds. 

“That was the first outing this year where I felt like myself,” Strider said. “At Clemson, we had an approach where if you’re a starter or reliever, you’re the closer that inning and then again in the next one. That’s how I pitched last year. I had to find that mentality.”

Life has been good for the Braves, and it might now be even better with Strider having regained his attack mentality. The electric right-hander’s latest effort was backed by Sean Murphy’s early home run and then three-run homers by Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson in the final two innings.

Murphy’s home run made him the first player in Atlanta history (since 1966) to have 11 straight hits go for extra bases. The veteran catcher also helped Strider tally nine strikeouts and allow just one hit over six scoreless innings. Juan Soto’s one-out single in the sixth served as that only hit.

“Spencer just has some gifts that other guys don’t,” Murphy said.

Strider has recorded at least nine strikeouts in eight straight regular-season starts, matching the franchise record Smoltz set in 1997. Ryan set the MLB record when he tallied at least nine strikeouts over 11 straight starts in 1977. 

“That’s pretty good company,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “What he has done in a very short period of time has been very, very impressive.”

To fully appreciate Strider already being linked to a legend like Smoltz, it’s best to remember he had just one professional season under his belt before he began last year in Atlanta’s bullpen. Strider joined the starting rotation at the end of May and still became the first rookie in franchise history to record a 200-strikeout season.

In fact, Strider reached 200 strikeouts at 130 innings, quicker than any pitcher in American League or National League history.

This year, Strider hasn’t notched a double-digit strikeout total in any of his first four starts but has had exactly nine strikeouts in each. He has an MLB-best 36 strikeouts -- over just 22 innings.

“His stuff is so good,” Murphy said. “He can go out there and throw pretty much whatever. As long as we execute it, I like our odds. It’s just something you can do with stuff like that.”

Strider has the capability of overpowering hitters with a triple-digit fastball. He hit 99.6 mph and 99.5 mph while issuing a seven-pitch walk to Soto in the fourth inning. Strider got ahead with an 0-2 count and didn’t get the bottom-of-the-zone call he wanted with the third and seventh pitches of the plate appearance.  

When Soto came to the plate again in the sixth, he immediately saw a pair of heaters clocked at 99.1 mph. He then killed the no-hit bid by lacing a 98.9 mph fastball past the diving second baseman Albies. Matt Carpenter, who walked in the second, and Xander Bogaerts, who was hit by a pitch in the fourth, were the only Padres not named Soto to reach against Strider.

“I never felt when the walks were happening or when I was falling behind, I was out of it,” Strider said. “That’s something I didn’t really feel up until this start. That’s a big step in the right direction.”

Regaining a more aggressive approach may have helped Strider, but it also doesn’t hurt that his arsenal also includes a sick slider. The Padres whiffed with nine of 20 swings against the slider and with eight of 23 swings against the four-seam fastball.

Strider has struck out 40.9% (36 of 88) of batters faced this year. That’s better than the MLB-best 38.3% strikeout rate he produced last year. Not bad, considering he hadn’t really felt like himself before regaining his edge.

“It’s really special, and he’s still learning,” Snitker said. “His stuff is so electric.”