16 Responses to “Scoring 14 runs in back-to-back games”

1. Matthew Glidden Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 6:06 pm

   Interesting that Boston's Atchison got credit for an appearance (and "game finished" ?) without facing a Detroit batter, due to weather. Reminded me of Mitch Williams picking up a 1989 save without throwing a pitch.

   SDP - CHI, April 28, 1989

2. Hartvig Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 6:24 pm

   Those '93 Tigers put 899 runs on the board even with a starting outfield of Dan Gladden, Milt Cuyler & Rob Deer and Scott Livingstone at 3rd.

3. Evan Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 11:17 pm

   Honorable mention to the Texas Rangers for game 1 of the doubleheader on August 22, 2007 against the Orioles, when they scored 14 runs in inning 4-6 and 16 runs in inning 8-9 for a total of 30.

   The 9 runs in the second game weren't too shabby either.

4. John Autin Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 11:25 pm

   @2, Hartvig -- Amazing, isn't it, how a couple of "utility players" like Tony Phillips and Mickey Tettleton can cover a multitude of sins?

   Looking at the B-R page for those '93 Tigers ... I can't think of another team with 3 seasons this big from "below-the-line" players. Phillips, Tettleton and Trammell don't appear among the "starting 9" because they played multiple positions, but they were 3 of the club's top 6 in WAR from position players.

   That club also led the AL in walks, with almost 200 more than the league average. And despite all the baserunners (by far the most in the AL), and a general dearth of speed, they had the fewest GIDP in the league. The hidden benefits of strikeouts and fly balls....

5. Johnny Twisto Says:
   May 27th, 2011 at 1:08 am

   Phillips, Tettleton and Trammell don't appear among the "starting 9" because they played multiple positions, but they were 3 of the club's top 6 in WAR from position players.

   Great find (Hartvig too). I'm not sober enough to even think about how to search for a similar team. Maybe tomorrow. Any ideas?

   And a guy "below the line" (Phillips) leading the team in PA.

   Actually this is a very interesting team, and I wonder if late-career Sparky deserves more credit than he got. 1st in scoring and close to last in runs allowed, but 8 games over .500 with a Pythag to match. A couple HOVG players appearing in ~120 games, and a real mish-mash of wash-ups and flawed players filling out the lineup. I think someone could write a very interesting story of that team.

6. Evil Squirrel Says:
   May 27th, 2011 at 3:10 am

   Interesting that Boston's Atchison got credit for an appearance (and "game finished" ?) without facing a Detroit batter, due to weather.

   Scott Sanders' final career "appearance" came in just such a fashion in the final game of the 1999 season. Entered the game for the Cubs to start off the bottom of the 5th, warmed up, and the tarp was brought out before he ever threw a pitch...

   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN199910030.shtml

   Interestingly enough, I believe Sanders was recalled to start a game for the Indians in 2000... a game which got washed out entirely after only a few innings. Sanders never appeared in the big leagues again. So Sanders has the distinction of not throwing a single pitch in his final official ML appearance, while his actual final appearance in a Major League game was wiped off the books altogether....

7. Nash Bruce Says:
   May 27th, 2011 at 5:17 am

   re: 1993 Detroit Tigers: Wow, I'd forgotten....would it be reaching, to say that they 'were sabermetric, before sabermetrics were mainstream'? Their (as JT put it) "mish-mash of washed up and flawed players" put up 20 runs twice(!!) in the first ten games, of the season. By game 17, they'd added 17, 16, and 12 run onslaughts(this does not include, the 14+ runs, 3 games in a row, in the aforementioned BAL series). They were 2.5 games up, on June 20th.....and proceeded to lose 13 of 14, dead. Yet, on August 28th, they were only 4 games out of first. This, despite, David Wells leading the starters with an 103 ERA+ and, for that matter, Mike Moore finishing second in the AL in shutouts.....yet STILL posting an 82 ERA+.
   It is almost as if, somebody just made this team up, as a joke, to play with numbers. But, if Bill Gullickson, has anything close to one of his better (or even an average) seasons, then they had a shot to win the AL East.......(let alone Moore, but I guess at that point, he was one of those 'washed up players', lol)
   Good fun.

8. Nash Bruce Says:
   May 27th, 2011 at 5:51 am

   *(or even average)........sorry:)

9. Beetle Says:
   May 27th, 2011 at 9:13 am

   I am wondering when was the last time a team scored 14+ runs in 2 consecutive games while giving up 2 runs or less in both game.

10. John Autin Says:
    May 27th, 2011 at 11:12 am

    I just noticed this ... In the table's first entry (Texas 2008), the Rangers scored 17 runs in the 2nd game, and lost ... to Boston, in Fenway.

    That's the 2nd-highest losing run total in the expansion era, after (of course) the famous 1979 game that ended Phillies 23, Cubs 22.

    However, that game went 10 innings. From 1919 on, there have been just 4 games of 9 innings or less in which the loser scored 17+; three of those scored exactly 17, and two of those were in 2008. The Rockies beat Florida, 18-17, on July 4, in Coors Field. There's your fireworks show right there: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL200807040.shtml

    For the only (searchable) 9-inning game with more than 17 runs in a losing effort, you have to go all the way back to 1922, another Phils-Cubs game in the Friendly Confines, won by the hosts, 26-23:
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN192208250.shtml

    Fun linescore in that one: The Cubs scored in only 4 innings: 1 run in the 1st, 1 in the 6th ... but 10 in the 2nd, and 14 in the 4th. (Now, that's a real football score!) The score was 26-9 after 7 innings, but Philly scored 8 in the 8th and 6 in the 9th to make it interesting. The Phils did not have a home run; the Cubs hit 3.

    BTW, Cubs starter Tony Kaufmann was credited with the win in that game, even though he went just 4 innings, allowing 6 runs (3 ER). I'm not sure if the 5-inning requirement hadn't been set in stone yet in 1922, or if there's a loophole that allows the official scorer to award the win to the SP with less than 5 IP if no other pitcher "pitched effectively." And you could argue that was the case here.

11. John Autin Says:
    May 27th, 2011 at 11:25 am

    @9, Beetle -- I haven't found that streak yet (consecutive games of 14+ runs scored and <= 2 runs allowed).

    In 2005, the Mets won consecutive games in Arizona by 14-1 and 18-4; they swept that 4-game series by a combined score of 39-7. (Then they went into SF and scored 1 run in 3 straight games....)

12. John Autin Says:
    May 27th, 2011 at 11:31 am

    @9 -- The Blue Jays came close in 2000, winning 14-1 @CHW and 16-3 over NYY.

    Funny sidebar: Earlier in that 2000 season, Toronto lost consecutive games to the visiting Mariners by 19-7 and 17-6. Toronto's starting pitchers in those 2 games? Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter. (That was part of a 4-game Toronto streak allowing 11+ runs. Neil L., I swear it's nothing personal!)

13. John Autin Says:
    May 27th, 2011 at 11:40 am

    @9, Beetle -- Here's your answer:
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI199908240.shtml

    In 1999, the Phillies beat San Diego 18-2 and 15-1. Among the notables in those 2 box scores: SD reliever Matt Whiteside allowed 9 runs in 1.2 IP in the first game, and 4 runs in 0.1 IP the second game. (Without those 2 games, Whiteside's career ERA for 406 IP would be 1/4 of a run less, from 5.23 to 4.97.)

    The '99 Phillies were involved in a LOT of blowouts -- they won 26 games by at least 5 runs, but lost 28. That's 1/3 of their schedule.

14. Beetle Says:
    May 27th, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    Awesome! Thanks John!

15. Biff Says:
    May 27th, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    @13
    I remember that it seemed as if the bottom dropped out the 99 Phils after slaughtering the Padres those 2 games.

16. Neil L. Says:
    May 27th, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    @12
    JA, thanks for the tip of the cap to the Jays! You are a fair and balanced commentator. No hard feelings.

    What a statistical odditiy that Carpenter and Halladay got roughed up so badly at that point in their careers. Ah, don't you love baseball!?!