Nationals set some offensive team records
Posted by Andy on May 21, 2011
The Nationals put up 17 runs on the Orioles last night.
That's the most runs they've scored since being in Washington, with the previous high of 15 done twice. The Expos, though, had a whole pile of games with more runs:
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | WPA | RE24 | LOB | # | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1996-04-28 | MON | COL | W 21-9 | 56 | 46 | 21 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 8 | 8 | 0.452 | 15.209 | .206 | 8 | 14 |
| 2 | 2004-07-26 | MON | NYM | W 19-10 | 51 | 40 | 19 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 0.658 | 14.641 | .596 | 8 | 16 |
| 3 | 1997-05-07 | MON | SFG | W 19-3 | 57 | 54 | 19 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 0.578 | 14.469 | .584 | 11 | 17 |
| 4 | 1993-04-11 | MON | COL | W 19-9 | 58 | 49 | 19 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 0.539 | 13.711 | .561 | 12 | 16 |
| 5 | 1979-06-17 | MON | HOU | W 19-3 | 48 | 44 | 19 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 0.355 | 15.279 | .255 | 5 | 18 |
| 6 | 1978-07-30 | MON | ATL | W 19-0 | 57 | 51 | 19 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 0.386 | 14.500 | .349 | 11 | 14 |
| 7 | 1978-05-07 (1) | MON | CIN | W 19-5 | 54 | 47 | 19 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0.394 | 14.982 | .302 | 8 | 16 |
| 8 | 1977-07-04 (1) | MON | CHC | W 19-3 | 53 | 46 | 19 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 0.469 | 14.117 | .371 | 7 | 14 |
| 9 | 1973-07-03 | MON | NYM | W 19-8 | 52 | 44 | 19 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 7 | 6 | 0.774 | 15.206 | .914 | 9 | 14 |
| 10 | 1990-06-08 | MON | STL | W 18-2 | 46 | 37 | 18 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 0.435 | 14.394 | .301 | 4 | 17 |
Last night they got 6 home runs (one each from Espinosa, Bernadina, Ramos, and Nix, and a pair from Werth), which is more than they've ever had in franchise history. The last time they had even 5 came back in Montreal in 2002. That night the homers came from Vlad Guerrero, Brad Wilkerson, Wil Cordero, Jose Vidro, and Matthew Cepicky, who played in 89 games for the Expos (then Nationals) and Marlins in 2002-2006.
They had 7 different players get at least 2 hits, which they've done a couple of times before in Washington, most recently in 2009 against the Dodgers. But the Expos once had 9 different guy have multi-hit games, back in this 1979 contest. They were so good that day that two guys--Dave Cash and Tony Solaita--had multi-hit games even though they came in as replacements during the game. (Side note--the 'Spos had a nice 3-4-5 trio in that game--Andre Dawson, Tony Perez, and Gary Carter. I'm sure it's not all that rare to see a historical box score with 3 Hall of Famers batting in a row, but it's cool to see one for the Expos.)
May 21st, 2011 at 7:17 am
Dawson, Perez and Carter are the only Hall of Famers in Expo history; hopefully Tim Raines will be the fourth...
May 21st, 2011 at 8:14 am
Ramos scored 5 runs? That has to be pretty rare, for a catcher.
May 21st, 2011 at 8:53 am
Must be offensive to Sean and Neil too, the result is missing, (so is TBR-FLA), and there are no game scores for the starters, nobody is listed in the batter game scores either.
The O's 5 pitchers all gave up earned runs, (all 17 runs were earned). What is the most pitchers for a team in a game where they all give up (earned) runs?
May 21st, 2011 at 8:56 am
Braves - Angels is the other game missing, not Rays - Marlins.
May 21st, 2011 at 9:35 am
"What is the most pitchers for a team in a game where they all give up (earned) runs?"
Kds, I thought about your question, fooled around in the PI a bit but couldn't think of a way to answer your question.
I think it's impossible to search for, but I would like to be corrected..?
May 21st, 2011 at 9:59 am
Although the Nationals had not scored 17 runs before last night and since becoming the Nationals, a quick check shows that five other NL teams have not accomplished it either in that time span.
The Braves, Giants, Diamondbacks, Pirates and the Reds.
Surprising that the Nats didn't get help from their DH's in posting a 17-spot.
17 runs hasn't happened in interleague play in a while. However having no pitchers at the plate last night surely helped.
May 21st, 2011 at 10:00 am
Also from the 1979 game, Cash got 2 hits after replacing Tony Scott, who was the only starter who didn't get a hit - including the pitcher, who had 2.
May 21st, 2011 at 10:35 am
I did a PI search for the most pitchers in a game for one team giving up 1+ ER. 8 teams have had 7 pitchers give up (at least) 1 ER in a game. So then I've started going game by game.
This is most recent game where a team used 7 pitchers, and they all gave up (at least) an ER.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS200509070.shtml
May 21st, 2011 at 12:20 pm
@8
Thank you, Thomas. It is fitting that the Nationals should be on the receiving end of the score in the game you found. No Washington pitcher gave up more than 2 ER in that 12-1 loss.
May 21st, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Hey Andy (or anyone) what's the # represent --- the last stat in the column?
May 21st, 2011 at 12:36 pm
@10...
It seems to be the number of players used in the game by Montreal...
May 21st, 2011 at 12:42 pm
John Autin, did I miss your nightly "round up" of games somewhere last night? 🙂
I know this is going off on a tangent, but I assume you would have noticed that Jo Jo Reyes of Toronto, just started his 26th consecutive game last night without a win!
He tied Bob Miller (1960-2) with the Cardinals and Mets and Anthony Young (1992-4) with the Cubs and Mets.
When the Blue Jays roll into New York this week, on Wednesday afternoon, Reyes will be poised to tie 1978-79 Matt Keough of Oakland for the all-time futility record.
28 consecutive starts without a win has only been done once in all of modern baseball history!
Bad luck, bad pitching, tantalizing stuff, .....
The complete list of non-winning starters is here
http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/5sSXG
At least Reyes is only 0-12 in his starts. Keough was 0-18.
May 21st, 2011 at 12:45 pm
I've banned JA from his off-topic comments because I want him to write his own posts. The guy would be a great contributor to this blog and I am now trying to twist his arm.
May 21st, 2011 at 12:59 pm
#13
Well, I was just guilty of the same thing, Andy, going off topic. Just thought that Reyes is an interesting baseball story.
JA, would be a great addition to the regular bloggers here. He writes well. treats opposing opinions (even poorly-informed ones) with respect, can massage the database well and has an encyclopedic, anecdotal knowledge of baseball.
It must take a lot of self-discipline to blog at a high-quality level daily.
May 21st, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Just asking some opinions here...so please chime in.
The Nationals go out and get Jason Werth last offseason, at what most people (my self included) consider wild over spending to the point of insanity, driving up the market as well.
Werth came into his own late in his career, (28) and had some very good seasons, but nothing eye-popping, all this while playing in a hitter's park in a hitter's line up.
The Nationals are going to be paying Werth 21 million when he is 38 in 2017. Some kids who will watch the $21 Million dollar Werth is '17 have not been born yet.
But then the Nationals GM sort of changed my mind. He admitted he was not going to contend this year or next, but he thought he owed it to his fans to put some players out there who were at the very least 'exciting' to watch play.
That got me a bit excited, because as Neil L. pointed out a few posts ago, baseball has boiled down to a few teams every year in the mix (the same few) and a couple upstarts, who are virtually on a clock to win, before their home grown Cinderellas turn to pumpkins and sign elsewhere. Who, with a straight face, could pick the Royals, Pirates, Nationals, Houston, etc to win, let alone compete.
The Royals have to be the biggest embarrassment to the sport. It seems they don't even try to compete, send out a triple A team, collect the luxury taxes from the Yankees and RedSox and concede.
My point or question is, DO YOU THINK IT IS GOOD FOR BASEBALL OR THE NATIONALS LONGTERM, TO JUST OVER PAY FOR A SHORT TERM FIX? IS THE PROBLEM, OR WAS THE PROBLEM THAT WERTH IS GENERALLY UNPROVEN AND OLD AND SOON UNTRADEABLE, WHERE THE SAME SITUATION WOULD BE MORE EXCUSABLE IF IT WAS APPLIED TO CARL CRAWFORD? WOULD THE MONEY HAVE BEEN BETTER IN THE MINOR LEAGUES, THE CARIBBEAN OR THE FAR EAST? COULD/SHOULD THE ROYALS/PIRATES REWARD THEIR FANS IN SIMILAR WAYS? WAS WERTH A SELFISH GUY TO GO WHERE HE KNOWS HE CAN NOT WIN FOR A HUGE CONTRACT - THE ANTI-GIL MECHE? DO THE NATIONALS EXTEND THE SAME THINKING- OVER PAY FOR FANS, WHEN IT COMES TO PUDGE AND ALL THE RECORDS HE COULD PUT UP AS A NATIONAL (3000 HITS FOR CATCHER) ETC?
May 21st, 2011 at 1:47 pm
To Andy,
JA could have his own segment on MLB TV, and I'd willingly pay to watch it.
How do you look in front of a camera John?
I think I asked this before, but is your back ground journalism?
May 21st, 2011 at 3:17 pm
The #7 and #8 hitters each had a chance for the cycle in their last at at bats.
May 21st, 2011 at 4:33 pm
How about those '73 Expos. Besides roughing up Dr. Jim, they got 7 earned runs in 1 and a third against Tug McGraw (You gotta believe!!- If not, check the box score LOL). And some Yankee fans have been dissing Mariano giving up a run or two this year?
May 21st, 2011 at 6:01 pm
@15
Duke, you ask so many questions that I have to pause and sort out my answers. The caps are kinda yellin' and distracting me.
May 21st, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Neil L. -- I noticed Jo-Jo's box score, but I confess, I was unaware of his streak.
It will be no consolation to Reyes, but he is the 25th pitcher this year to go at least 7 scoreless innings and get no decision. Wandy Rodriguez has done it twice, going 8 IP each time. Jason Vargas and Zach Britton threw 9 blanks, to no avail.
I'm sure it's some consolation to you, Neil, that today, it was your Blue Jays setting off the late fireworks, with Joey Bats snapping out of that interminable 4-game HR-and-RBI drought ... and chipping in his 5th steal besides!
P.S. I think Andy was kidding about banning my nightly recaps. But he would be justified in twisting my arm.
May 21st, 2011 at 6:19 pm
@2
I have found 4 other catchers who scored 5 runs in a game (after 1918):
Walker Cooper (7-6-49)
Wes Westrum (6-24-50)
Jody Davis (6-3-87)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (8-22-07)
May 21st, 2011 at 6:36 pm
@20
But, JA, regarding your (proposed) nightly blog. You won't listen to Andy, you won't listen to Dukeofflatbush, you won't listen to me..... what would it take for you to become a "staffer" on this site? It might hugely increase subscribership.
Yes, Bautista snapped out of his 0-6 "slump" with two home runs today, one on an 0-2 count.
It was actually kind of funny.... Houston Astros media in Toronto for the series, after Friday night's 0-3 with a walk were asking "What is the big deal with this guy. We got him out."
Joey Bats, (I love your nick) replied today!
May 21st, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Thanks for the catcher 5-Run games, Richard.
Couple of odd things about the Jody Davis 5-Run game:
-- Davis went 1 for 1 ... with 4 walks. It was the only 4-walk game of his career.
-- For all that running (and I use the word charitably in Jody's case), he got to rest after the top of the 7th. Jim Sundberg pinch-hit for him ... and hit a 2-run HR. So the Cubs got 6 runs from that spot in the order.
-- Did I mention that the final score was 23-7? Methinks the wind was blowing out that day. The Cubs hit 6 HRs, including 3 in a 9-run 1st inning off Bob Knepper, who was having the worst all-around game of his long career. Every Cub in the starting lineup had at least 1 hit and scored a run, including SP Rick Sutcliffe. Keith Moreland tied career highs with 2 HRs and 7 RBI, including a grand slam. Brian Dayett also had a salami for the Cubs, as did Houston's Billy Hatcher.
-- Rick Sutcliffe (5 IP, 7 ER, 6 walks) had the ugliest win of his long career, with a Game Score of 22.
-- Jody Davis had 1 other game in his career in which he reached safely in each of 5+ trips. In that game, he never scored.
May 21st, 2011 at 6:42 pm
@22, Neil -- I'm listening to everyone, and thanks for the encouragement. What you're missing is that (a) I'm a coward, and (b) I'm a world-class procrastinator.
May 21st, 2011 at 6:50 pm
@20 @22
Actually, JA, I'm kind of curious whether the NY media will pick up on the Bautista "story" this week, what with Toronto coming in for a three-game series.
He's leading Granderson by 4 HR (as of today) and obviously dominating Curtis in all other offensive categories.
Just hope that all the (assumed) media interview requests will not distract Jose from his main mission... drawing walks and hitting home runs.
May 21st, 2011 at 7:24 pm
I enjoy John Autin's posts, too.
"The last time they had even 5 came back in Montreal in 2002." I think you must have meant, "The last time they had even 5 came back when the team was based in Montreal in 2002," because that game took place in Coors Field in Colorado. The Expos beat the Rockies 13-5 that day, August 21. I see that they weren't the only team to score 13 that day. The Phillies beat the Brewers 13-3 in Milwaukee. Thus, both teams that scored 13 were the visitors. And both increased their leads in the top of the 9th.
That 1993 game between the Expos and Rockies was also in Colorado. In fact, it was the third game in the first-ever regular season major league series played in Mile High Stadium. The Rockies scored at least 9 runs in each of the three games, winning 11-4 and 9-5 before losing that 19-9 game. On the other hand, Colorado scored a total of one run in losing their first two games of the season and their history against the Mets in Shea Stadium before coming home to face Montreal.
In that 1979 game against Houston, which was at home in Stade Olympique, the Astros used 20 players (6 pitchers), while the Expos used 18 (only 3 pitchers). This was in June, not September. This likely involved every non-pitcher on the roster. Both teams used two catchers. I don't know if they had any others on their roster. Every pinch hitter for both teams, including catcher Bruce Bochy of the Astros, stayed in the game defensively, so there were no pinch-hitters-only who may have been catchers. But the most interesting pinch hitter who stayed in the game defensively was Expos pitcher David Palmer. My first thought was that Montreal ran out of position players, but Ken Macha was brought into the game not long after that.
May 21st, 2011 at 7:39 pm
@15
Duke, I guess my first question for you is "Do you consider Washington to be a mid- or small-market team?"
My point being, that so many player "moves" are made by organizations based on how they perceive themselves as a franchise. The length of the team's GM's current contract, the bank account of ownership, the dynamics of the current free-agent market and many other variables factor into personnel decisions.
A large-market team like the Cubs/Yankees/Red Sox/Mets can spend like there is no tomorrow without having to punitively revenue-share with their small-market brethren a la the NFL.
I don't know if the National's nation expects them to be competitive this year but overspending and inking "bad" contracts is systemic across baseball, IMO.
Numerous posters in BRef have documented the Mets' fiscal irresponsibility over the years so the Nat's are not alone in overpaying for a player like Jason Werth.
I agree that is a travesty that the Kansas City's and Pittsburg's of the baseball world are rewarded financially for putting an uncompetitive product on the field.
I am surprised that so few knowledgable baseball people in BRef have taken MLB to task for it's tolerance of the present financial structure.
About 7 months ago, when I posted a similar thought about Kansas City and Pittsburg in here I was essentailly told by the community that it has always been thus .... KC was a farm team for the Yankees in the late 1950's and 1960's
May 21st, 2011 at 7:44 pm
@27
The joke of the day then was that the Yankees were the only ML team with a farm team in the majors.
May 21st, 2011 at 7:53 pm
@28
Where did Roger Maris come from? 🙂
May 21st, 2011 at 7:53 pm
How 'bout some love for the senior circuit -- 9-5 in yesterday's games! There's a little spunk in the ol' gal yet.
So, who liked the Marlins in today's matchup of Javier Vazquez against David Price? Vazquez came in with a 7.55 ERA, or about 4 runs higher than Price. But Vazquez came up with his first truly good game of the year, stifling the Rays for 7 IP, while Price was strafed for 5 runs in 6.2 IP. The Marlins won at home by a 5-3 score for the 2nd straight day; Leo Nunez notched his MLB-high 17th save. Florida is 26-18, their best start since 2005.
Hey, remember when Andre Ethier had that hitting streak? After going 0-3 today, Ethier now has 1 hit in his last 28 AB, dropping 50 points off his BA.
Maybe he's lucky, maybe he's good, but he's definitely winning: Cleveland's Josh Tomlin improved to 6-1 today, thanks to a come-from-behind HR by Travis Buck (filling in at DH for another Travis). Tomlin, who had a .178 BABIP coming into this start, allowed just 3 hits and a run over 7 IP, with (as usual) 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Tomlin has just 30 Ks in 59.2 IP, but also just 10 BBs. He's allowed 8 HRs, but only 9 runs on them, thanks partly to his 0.82 WHIP. Tomlin hails from Tyler, Texas; do you remember Tyler's favorite (athletic) son?
Jeremy Guthrie has a very similar line to Tomlin in "3 true outcomes": 60 IP, 10 walks, 36 Ks. But Guthrie picked up just his 2nd win of the year today, against a MLB-high 6 losses. The O's had given Guthrie just 2.15 R/G before today, with no more than 5 runs in any of his 9 starts; but today they put up a pair of 4-spots and beat the Nats, 8-3.
May 21st, 2011 at 7:58 pm
@29
Yankee owner Del Webb was buddy-buddy with A's owner Arnold Johnson. Johnson specifically obtained players with the intent of later sending them to the Yankees.
May 21st, 2011 at 8:00 pm
(Sorry; I, um, went off-topic there....)
May 21st, 2011 at 8:00 pm
@30
JA, you ain't supposed to be doing this...........
Love every paragraph.
May 21st, 2011 at 8:02 pm
@31
Richard, so where was the integrity of an independent franchise in that?
May 21st, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Neil @27 -- I have mixed feelings about revenue sharing and the luxury tax, as currently practiced.
Fundamentally, I think revenue sharing is fair. The wealthy teams would not be so well-off if the league were comprised only of such teams. In fact, I think revenue sharing should be increased; I would favor every team putting 1/2 of its income from ticket sales and TV rights into a pool, to be divided equally among all teams. A MLB game is a show that requires 2 teams; why shouldn't the revenue coming directly from that show be shared equally by both teams?
I don't kid myself that this system would solve all the problems of financial inequity. I just think it would be fair, and that's a step in the right direction.
I don't necessarily agree that there is a big problem of subsidized teams pocketing the revenue-sharing without trying to field a contending team. There have been some; but I don't think the Pirates and Royals are necessarily among them. I think those teams have proud traditions and truly want to get back in contention; I just think they've been badly run.
One idea that has been floated in order to create a strong incentive to field the best team you can afford, is a "relegation" system such as the one used by the Premier League of English soccer. I don't know the exact details of their system, but I think that every year, the 1 or 2 teams that finish with the worst record are dropped from the Premier league the next year, down to the next lower league, while the top 1 or 2 teams from the lower league are promoted to the Premier League. I don't see why this couldn't be done in MLB.
Another idea, of course, is a salary cap (and floor), and I think that's probably what we'll wind up with.
One problem facing small-market teams is that the market price of talent is essentially determined by the big spenders -- meaning not just the high-revenue teams, but a few other teams with wealthy owners who are willing to operate at a loss (or a smaller profit than they might make) for the satisfaction of pursuing a championship. I'm sure fans of those latter teams are thrilled by their owners' efforts, but it makes the job of the fiscally-prudent small-market teams even harder. Should MLB prohibit deficit spending? I think it should at least be considered.
Another factor in runaway salaries is that the talent supply is artificially limited. When free agency finally came to pass, owners thought they were negotiating a game-saving concession when they got the players' union to agree to rather strict service-time requirements in order to be a free agent. But they got "played" by Marvin Miller, who understood that reducing the supply would cause an exponential rise in the demand and thus the price of free-agent talent. What's more, in recent years, many teams have given huge contracts to young players who were still several years away from free-agency, rationalizing the practice as "buying out their arbitration years" and "showing a commitment to our fan base." This may be rational for the individual club in the short run (though some of those deals are still questionable), but for the league as a whole, it just further escalates the market price.
It's a big subject and I've gone on for a while, so I'll just end here without trying to wrap it up neatly. Instead, I'll ask -- Neil, what do you think should be done?
May 21st, 2011 at 9:04 pm
BTW, the talk of baseball's financial system and the Yanks-KC A's relationship reminds me that it's time for my periodic promotion of Veeck, as in Wreck, the highly entertaining memoir of former Indians, White Sox and (yes) Browns owner Bill Veeck.
My position on revenue sharing is a straight steal from Veeck. And he has some great chapters about the internal politics of the league that both led to and resulted from the relationship between Del Webb and Arnold Johnson. In Veeck's telling, Webb in effect controlled the 1961 AL expansion vote that wound up putting a lone AL team on the West Coast, in a rinky-dink minor-league ballpark.
Some people find Veeck a self-promoter, but there's no doubting that he loved baseball, and I find his egalitarian bent tremendously appealing.
May 21st, 2011 at 9:17 pm
@ John A and Neil L,
Regarding revenue sharing and the problems inherent in "small market" teams;
I can't see why any team should have to share their profits. But I do believe in a salary cap, only to level the playing field.
In the small market, I consider there to be two types of teams. The productive and the non-productive. I think the Indians, Rays and A's fall into the first category. They have realistic expectations regarding spending and do a great job in securing draft pics. While they seem to have a cyclical contending period, you can always see the light at the end of the tunnel and a genuine effort by the front office.
The latter group, Royals and Pirates, have not, IMO, tried to contend in years.
There is also another mid-level type of team, that seems to go for it all some seasons, at the sake of their future. They either hold on to aging players or trade for a midseason mercenary that they know won't stick around. The two teams that come to mind are the Astros, who went for the Unit and Beltran, Clemens and Pettitte and held on to Biggio and Bagwell, got to the Series, but now seem to have nothing in the tank.
The Brewers did the same with CC, and I believe that cost them in the long run. And they now are holding on to Prince, whom seems destined to leave.
So, I feel there is at least three reasons why teams can'y compete. The Owner does not care. The team is a rebuilder and is in transition. Or the team dipped too deep into their resources for a playoff run.
BTW - The Yankees' YES network has profits larger than the entire team and staff payroll. Everything else is just gravy.
Sorry about the caps before.
May 21st, 2011 at 9:36 pm
@35
Wow, JA, an essay not a post. Remember Dukeofflatbush's question in @ 16 about your journalism background.
I am processing, processing.... and will reply. Meanwhile, watching the Mets
and Yankees on MLB gameday.
May 21st, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Andy did you ever receive my email regarding Ichiro? The stats from it need to be updated a bit now, but I still would like to see how people would react to it on here. I respect nearly all the regular posters here.
May 21st, 2011 at 10:41 pm
So both the Padres and Pirates spent under $40 million last season, less than 20% of what the Yankees spent before revenue-sharing. Neither hockey or football has such a structure.
Based on the numbers, Washington is small-market, spending only $61.4 million.
JA, I remember your relegation suggestion from another blog..... about expanding the post-season, I think.
If drafting were more of a sure thing in baseball, as it is in hockey, football and basketball then the system would be self-correcting, but drafting young players in baseball is a crap shoot. So the weak teams can`t really hope to get better through the draft because it takes too long for the draft choice to reach the major leagues.
I realize this is not a reply on a par with your post at 35, but I did have an early start to the day and am fading fast .....
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:33 am
Regarding that 19-3 Expos-Astros game from '79 (#5 on the list), perhaps the most remarkable stat is this: the game was played in 2 hours, 36 minutes. For a contest with 9 pitchers, 85 batters and 32 hits.
In contrast, it seems that most Red Sox/Yankees these days don't get through 6 innings in two-and-a-half hours.
A crisply-played game is a delight. Most Yankees game (sorry, but it has to be said) - not so much.
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:34 am
(Dang, I was just about to post this and accidentally refreshed the page. Let's see if I can reconstruct it....)
I can't believe nobody referenced the 19-0 game on July 30, 1978.
-- The Expos hit 8 HRs, tying the MLB record at that time and surpassing the previous club record by 3.
-- They hit 4 HRs in a 9-run 3rd inning, with Andre Dawson opening and closing the scoring with solo shots. Dave Cash and Larry Parrish added 3-run blasts. But Parrish was just getting started....
-- Parrish homered in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings. I wonder if anyone else has ever done that? Anyway, it was the 2nd 3-HR game of his career, and he added a 3rd in 1980. To this day, only 5 other Expos/Nats have had a 3-HR game, and none more than 1. (Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Wallach, Alfonso Soriano, Adam Dunn.) Parrish added a double, tying his own club record with 14 total bases, which still stands and wasn't even equalled for 28 years.
-- The 3-HR outburst gave Parrish 15 HRs on July 30. It took 30 games for him to hit another; he also lost 25 points off his average in that span.
-- Braves reliever Craig Skok allowed 5 HRs in 2.2 IP, 1 shy of the MLB record for HRs allowed in relief. Only 4 relief pitchers have ever allowed 5+ HRs in a game. In his other 59.1 IP that year, Skok allowed just 3 HRs; in fact, this was the only time in his 107-game career that he allowed more than 1 HR. (BTW, I just noticed that Skok was born in Dobbs Ferry, NY, which is the town just north of mine in Westchester County. He was also of the rare breed of "throws left, bats right".)
-- It wasn't just a HR barrage; Montreal banged out 28 hits, including 6 doubles. Their 58 total bases is still the club record, by a margin of 12. (The 46-TB game is #5 on the list above.)
-- The only starter who didn't score a run for Montreal was Warren Cromartie. Cro was thrown out at the plate by RF Gary Matthews.
-- Meanwhile, 38-year-old Woodie Fryman tossed a shutout, his 2nd in 8 starts since coming back to Montreal in a trade from the Cubs; he added 2 hits, including a double that plated the final run. Two weeks later, Fryman beat the Giants and Vida Blue 1-0 with a 1-hit shutout, the 4th and last 1-hitter of his career; Blue went the distance on just 3 hits. The following year, Fryman became a reliever, and from age 39-41, he had a combined 2.34 ERA in 181 IP. (Alas, he got shelled in the 1981 playoffs.)
-- The starter and loser for Atlanta was Tommy Boggs, whose career record fell to 3-16. Through 1979, Boggs was 3-20. In 1980, he went 12-9 with a 3.42 ERA (109 ERA+), helping the Braves to their first winning season since '74. He then closed out his career on a 5-15 skid, for a final record of 20-44. He wasn't a bad pitcher, though; just played for some bad teams.
-- Atlanta had a rookie manager ... Bobby Cox.
-- There were 6 other games in the NL that day (including a doubleheader). No other team scored more than 5 runs in a game. There were 9 games in the AL; only 1 team topped 5 runs.
P.S. For some reason, I played a lot of Strat-O-Matic with the 1977-80 Expos. I couldn't pick Ellis Valentine out of a photo lineup, but his S-O-M cards remain seared into my brain. Boy, could he hit a lefty -- and a "-5" arm! He had 25 assists from RF in 1978.
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:53 am
BTW, the Orioles became the first team since 2008 to allow 13+ runs in consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Michael Pineda tonight became the 12th pitcher in the game-searchable era with at least 8 of his first 9 games going 6+ IP and allowing no more than 3 runs. In dispatching the Padres on 2 hits and 1 walk, with 9 Ks over 7 IP, Pineda lowered his ERA to 2.16 and his WHIP to 0.94. He has 61 Ks in 58.1 IP, for an AL-best K rate of 9.4 K/9.
Only 3 pitchers went 6+ IP on 3 runs or less in each of their first 9 games: Jered Weaver, Joey Hamilton and Steve Rogers.
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:36 am
In other games....
-- An 8-run 8 lifted the Cubs over Boston, 9-3. Marlon Byrd, who was hit by the pitch twice last night and 17 times last year, left tonight's game after being hit in the head. His replacement, Reed Johnson, got the go-ahead 2-run hit in the 8th. Amid the carnage in the 8th, there was a play that I hope makes more sense to see than to read: Bases loaded, 1 out, here's the play-by-play from ESPN.com:
"D Barney flied out to right, A Soriano scored, J Baker to third, K Fukudome to second on error by third baseman K Youkilis.J Baker scored, K Fukudome to third on throwing error by left fielder C Crawford."
What the heck happened on this play? Note that Barney was not credited with a sac fly or an RBI. The RF catches a fly ball, and the next thing you know, the 3B and LF are each charged with an error, allowing 2 runs to score?
(BTW, the Cubs' young DP combo of Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro continues to tickle me no end. But with Aramis Ramirez at 3B, shouldn't we just call the kids Athos and Porthos? OK, I'm weird; never mind.)
Meanwhile, the Cubs managed to score 9 runs without a HR. They are 12th in the NL with 33 HRs through 44 games, just 25 HRs by their 8 regulars. Fukudome has not hit a HR, while the Three Musketeers have 1 apiece. The Cubs didn't HR in the last 6 games of their latest homestand, their longest such streak in 5 years. The Cubs are also next-to-last in SB with 9; Soriano, once a 40-40 man, has yet to attempt a steal. (Soriano has 1/3 of the club's HRs, but he also has 42 Ks and just 6 walks. Just 3-3/4 more years on that contract, Cubs fans!) And their clutch hitting has been abysmal. Yet the Cubs are above-average in scoring, thanks to a high team OBP.
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:52 am
-- Justin Morneau did not HR for the 15th straight game. Morneau has 2 HRs this year, and didn't hit his first until his 22nd game. But to my surprise, Morneau has had a longer home run drought, during one of his productive seasons.
In 2007, the reigning MVP got off to a good start. Through 94 games, Morneau had 28 HRs and 85 RBI. But then the power went out; Morneau went a solid month without leaving the yard -- 28 games, 113 PAs. Over his last 63 games that year, Morneau had 3 HRs and 26 RBI.
-- Here's another play I'll have to see to understand. Minnesota has runners on 1st and 2nd against Arizona: "D Valencia singled to right, J Morneau scored, M Cuddyer to second, M Cuddyer to third, D Valencia to second on throwing error by pitcher A Heilman. M Cuddyer scored on throwing error by right fielder J Upton." How's that, again? A single to RF scores a run; the remaining runners move up on a throwing error by the pitcher; and then another run scores on a throwing error by the RF?
What in the name of Casey Stengel is going on here?!?
This is why interleague play must be stopped! 🙂
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:55 am
Must have driven the July '79 pitcher nuts to get so many runs when he only needed one. Portion it out, guys!
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:08 am
@45
John, I didn't see this game (honest), but here's my guess.
- Cuddyer goes first to third on Valencia's single, prompting a throw to third from the RF.
- The throw's offline or gets away for the third baseman and the pitcher, backing up the play, tosses a wild one to 2nd to get Valencia who tries to move up on the play (or, possibly, a wild throw to first behind Valencia). In either case, the ball ends up in right field.
- Cuddyer, meanwhile, picks himself up after sliding into third, and starts toward home when he sees the ball in right field, but then stops when Upton's throw comes in and continues home only when he sees the throw get away from the catcher.
Or, something like that.
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:22 am
@47, Doug -- Thanks; that's as good a guess as I'm likely to hear.
Sometimes when reading a bizarre play-by-play description, I feel the way Phil Rizzuto (bless him) must have felt in those rare moments when baseball action momentarily diverted his attention away from storytelling.
Where's Bill White when I need him? 🙂
May 22nd, 2011 at 8:59 am
I forgot to mention in my first post here that that 21-9 game that leads off the list was also played in Coors Field.
Another highlight of Saturday's games was Cliff Lee (originally drafted by the Expos, by the way) pitching the first 8 innings of a 2-0 win over his most-recently-former team, the Rangers. Ryan Madson pitched the 9th for the save in that one. I heard on the radio broadcast that it was the 7th Phillies win in a row in which Madson got the save. It looks like he's finally learned how to be a closer.
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:45 pm
@49
Double, I'm beginning to get the impression you are a closet Expos' fan/observer. 🙂
Did you transfer your loyalty to a new country when the Expos moved?
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:36 pm
RE post-27: I am surprised that so few knowledgable baseball people in BRef have taken MLB to task for it's tolerance of the present financial structure.
As if they have a choice. Did you ever hear of the Players' Union?
May 22nd, 2011 at 8:54 pm
@51
Pardon, Nesnhab?
Does the Players' Union have any interest in promoting competitive balance? I think not!
In fact, the Players' Union is only interested, with the help of the Steve Boros's of this world in bumping up salaries.
Wouldn't the PU strong-arm one of its members into not accepting a a "home town discount" to sign for less than the market price.
Does the Players' Union give a flyin' fidoo about large-market/small market teams?
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:09 pm
I was in the bleachers at the 1978 Atlanta game. Craig Skok's two inning were like being under a mortar barrage. Those were tough days for the Braves' bullpen. a lot of "putting out fires with gasoline";
May 23rd, 2011 at 4:08 am
@48
John, I remember Joe Garagiola (I think it was Joe) talk about when he first broadcast games with Rizzuto. Joe happened to glance over at Rizzuto's scorecard during a game, and noticed a number of "WL" inscriptions, so he asked Joe what that meant. Answer: "Wasn't Looking".
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:43 pm
I think it was actually WW = wasn't watching.
May 23rd, 2011 at 3:06 pm
It was the Scooter and WW