For all the pitches in his repertoire and all the strikeouts, when it came down to the one that got him 3,000, John Smoltz decided on the split-finger.

He got Felipe Lopez swinging at the nasty pitch he first pulled out in the 1992 playoffs against the Pirates, rode to his only Cy Young award in 1996 and on Tuesday used to join an elite group in the history of baseball, one with only 15 other members.

Pouya Dianat/Staff Photographer (ENLARGE)

Fans cheer immediately before John Smoltz threw his 3,000th career strikeout tonight becoming only the 16th pitcher in Major League history to reach the mark.

Pouya Dianat/Staff Photographer (ENLARGE)

Smoltz finished with 10 strikeouts on the night.

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With the fourth of his 10 strikeouts, Smoltz claimed a number that should all but confirm he's a Hall of Famer. He did it in a 6-0 loss to the Nationals after staying within 1-0 through seven dominant innings before the Braves bullpen blew it open with a five-run ninth.

But Smoltz came away happy that he did it at Turner Field, in front of a crowd of 23,482 that hung on his every two-strike pitch.

"This was a pretty incredible moment," said

Smoltz, who called it bigger than his 200th win at Turner Field last year. "There were so many people pulling for me to get this done. I wanted it to be at home. I think the fans deserved to see it here and be a part of something."

Only five pitchers got to 3,000 strikeouts faster than Smoltz — Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Nolan Ryan, Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens — though it probably hasn't felt that way to Smoltz. He got there after four elbow surgeries and a move from the rotation to the bullpen and back.

"Guys above me did it in a much grander fashion; the top guy [Nolan Ryan with 5,714] is ridiculous," Smoltz said. "But I think the course of my career had made this really special for me because there could have been a lot of roadblocks."

The video tribute the Braves presented on the BravesVision board in the middle of the third inning might have best put the feat in perspective. It showed clips of Smoltz clean-shaven, with a head full of hair, back in the triple-digit days of this strikeout climb.

Smoltz, 40 and with a little less on top, showed a little mileage when he took off his cap to acknowledge the fans during a prolonged ovation. That and perhaps when he dropped his head in relief as catcher Brian McCann ran out to hand him the ball from strikeout No. 3,000.

"When it was done, [I was] certainly relieved, happy for the fans and everybody who's been here, for the trainers, the doctors, everyone who's seen me go through a lot," Smoltz said.

"I didn't know how to react because there's still a game to pitch. It's not like I could get my four strikeouts and walk off the mound, but very proud."

And he could laugh, of course, when he got a postgame text message from Greg Maddux, a fellow member of the 3,000-strikeout club who pitched alongside him for 11 years.

"[It said] I've lost one hair for every strikeout that I've made," Smoltz said. "Probably right.

"It is incredible to think that aside from making numbers look the way you want them to look, this is a statistic that is what it is. It's nothing that you have to say with [a disclaimer]."

Smoltz has allowed only two runs in 23 innings this year, and both were driven in by former teammate Willie Harris, who doubled in the second inning. It was Smoltz's only blemish, and it was sandwiched between his record-setting four strikeouts.

Smoltz struck out Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns in the second and pitcher John Lannan to lead off the third. Then Lopez swung through the 2-2 split-finger pitch to bring on a fist pump from Smoltz and a celebration he'll always remember.

"I had all kinds of thoughts on what pitch I wanted it to be on," Smoltz said.

"That's dangerous as a pitcher because you've just got to throw the pitch you think will get it out. I did it on a split, that's about the only thing I remember from that at-bat."