Pettitte passes Koufax for latest milestone

ARLINGTON -- Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte tied and surpassed Sandy Koufax on baseball's all-time strikeouts list on Wednesday, tying former Yankees pitcher Kevin Brown for 39th place.

Pettitte equaled Koufax's lifetime mark of 2,396 strikeouts with a swinging punchout of the Rangers' Mitch Moreland in the second inning, then passed Koufax by freezing Geovany Soto looking.

Of course, Koufax compiled his lifetime total in a much shorter career than Pettitte's. It took Koufax just 2,324 1/3 innings to reach his mark, pitching for the Dodgers from 1955-66; Pettitte entered play on Wednesday with 3,235 1/3 career innings.

Once Pettitte moves past Brown, Dennis Eckersley holds 38th place on the all-time strikeouts list with 2,401.