"Father of scorekeeping" Henry Chadwick supposedly selected "K" because it was the dominant sound in the word "struck." (Also, "S" was already taken.) Some 150 years later, our recap of baseball's oddities saw a lot of pitchers reach (at least) the 11-K plateau this week. So we present our tribute to the 11th letter of the alphabet.

• As we all know by now, Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels threw a no-hitter on Saturday, the first against the Chicago Cubs in nearly half a century. Although Nolan Ryan owns the record for most strikeouts in a no-hitter (17), Hamels' 13 were the most by a Phillies pitcher in a no-no. Their combined no-hitter last year had 12, and Roy Halladay had 11 in his perfect game in 2010. Hamels hadn't recorded 13 strikeouts in a game since September 2010, though he does have both 11-K games by the Phillies this season, and a career total of 15 such games. That moves him into third place in Phillies history behind Steve Carlton (50!) and Curt Schilling (31).

• No matter what Hamels would have you believe, there were 11 hits on Saturday at Wrigley Field. One of them was his own double, making him the first pitcher to have an extra-base hit in a no-hitter since A.J. Burnett doubled on May 12, 2001 (that was his nine-walk no-hitter for the Marlins).

• Speaking of Burnett and Schilling, they now share the distinction of being the only pitchers in the live ball era with two outings of six innings or less, 11 surrendered hits and eight strikeouts. Burnett did that on Saturday (and once last season); the 11 hits and eight whiffs were a first by a Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher in any game since Francisco Cordova on July 27, 1997.

• Clayton Kershaw recorded his third consecutive game with no walks and 11 strikeouts on Thursday when he three-hit the Mets. Elias notes that he's the first pitcher in the modern era to record three straight scoreless, walkless outings with double-digit strikeout totals in each, breaking the mark of Cy Young himself, who did it two straight for the Red Sox in 1905.

• Lost in that Thursday game was Bartolo Colón's outing of eight innings, one run (a Jimmy Rollins homer), and no walks on 88 pitches. Although the Mets get a lot of zero- and one-run no-decisions, Colón was the first Mets starter to go eight or more innings, allow one run, and lose since Steve Trachsel against the Expos on Sept. 18, 2003. The lone run in that 1-0 loss was a solo shot by Todd Zeile. To bring everything full circle, Zeile is the lone major leaguer born on Sept. 9, 1965 -- the last time (before Saturday) the Cubs were no-hit.

• When the Dodgers weren't throwing 11-strikeout games, they were providing them. They fanned 11 times against Atlanta Braves starter Julio Teheran on Wednesday, but also pieced together six hits, three walks and three runs. The last Braves pitcher to hit those numbers in a game was Tom Glavine, who did so in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins on April 25, 1994.

• Francisco Liriano struck out 11 more batters in earning a six-inning win over the Nationals on Thursday. It's his fourth game this season with 11 or more strikeouts; only Kershaw and Chris Sale have more. Since the mound was lowered in 1969, only two other Pirates players have had four 11-K games in a season: Oliver Perez (2004) and Bert Blyleven (1980). More notably, Liriano has pitched three games this season in which he's recorded 11 strikeouts in six innings or less, something achieved by only one other pitcher in the live ball era: newly-enshrined Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 2001.

Oddities of the week

• Aaron Nola allowed his first home run Tuesday, and it was to the opposing pitcher, Nate Karns of the Tampa Bay Rays. The last to give up a home run to an AL pitcher in his debut was Jesse Hickman of the Kansas City Athletics. On June 5, 1965, he surrendered an extra-inning shot to Boston pitcher Dick Radatz -- the only homer of Radatz's seven-year career.

• The Seattle Mariners turned the 11th triple play in franchise history Sunday when the Toronto Blue Jays got into a two-runners-on-third-base situation. Ezequiel Carrera, who was entitled to the bag, fell off it for a rare ((3)-6-2)-2 triple play. It's so rare the Society for American Baseball Research has record of only one other play like it in history. On August 3, 1955, a nearly identical play happened between the Orioles and Athletics at Memorial Stadium, the only difference being the trail runner started on second.

• Michael Conforto, playing only his second major league game, had two doubles, two singles and four runs in the Mets' blowout of the Dodgers on Saturday. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the last player to have four hits and score four runs in either of his first two major league games was William "Wid" Conroy, who did so in the first game ever played by the original Milwaukee Brewers on April 25, 1901. (The Brewers became the St. Louis Browns in 1902 and then the Orioles.) They lost that game, 14-13, to Detroit at Bennett Park, which was later replaced on the same site by Tiger Stadium.

More nuggets:

• Albert Pujols, Monday: First Angels batter to homer in both games of a doubleheader since Garret Anderson on July 16, 1995 (at Detroit).

• Kyle Schwarber, Tuesday: Youngest Cubs player with a four-hit, two-homer game since Ron Santo in 1961.

• Shin-Soo Choo: First player to hit for the cycle and then strike out at least three times in next game since Oddibe McDowell in July 1985.

• David Ross, Sunday: Made second pitching appearance of 2015, the first coming on May 9; first Cubs position player to pitch twice in a season since Doug Dascenzo in 1991.

• Matt Harvey: First pitcher with three consecutive two-RBI games in same season since Andy Messersmith of the Braves in 1976.

• Madison Bumgarner: First Giants pitcher to hit three home runs in consecutive seasons since Johnny Antonelli did so in 1955-57.