Kansas City Royals bullpen sets American League strikeout record

With 535 strikeouts, the 2012 Kansas City Royals set a new American League record for most strikeouts by a bullpen in 2012, writes MLB.com. The Royals' relievers struck out two more in Wednesday night's season-ending 1-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers after previously breaking the mark of 527 strikeouts by the 2001 Cleveland Indians' bullpen.

Entering Wednesday, Tim Collins was leading the AL with 93 strikeouts from the bullpen, with Greg Holland third with 91. Kelvin Herrera ranked 13th with 77 K's, Aaron Crow was 24th with 65 and Louis Coleman ranked 27th with 63. Collins said the record was "awesome":

"For us, as a bullpen, it seems like it's been a really long year. It seems like we were out there every single day. It's pretty awesome, with such a young group, that we can go out and get a record such as the most strikeouts of all time for the American League. I think that's just a testament to how hard our guys work and the work that we put in day in and day out. We're just ready to go every day, and go out there and do our job."