Orioles Oddities: 4 runs on 18 hits in 9 innings
Posted by John Autin on June 17, 2011
The Orioles matched a live-ball record for offensive inefficiency Friday night, scoring 4 runs on 18 hits in losing to the streaking Nationals in D.C.
It was the 3rd regulation game since 1919 in which a team had 18+ hits without topping 4 runs; all three teams had exactly 4 runs on exactly 18 hits:
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | SH | SF | ROE | GDP | SB | CS | WPA | RE24 | LOB | # | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011-06-17 | BAL | WSN | L 4-8 | 43 | 42 | 4 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.156 | -0.107 | 1.179 | 12 | 16 |
| 2 | 1953-09-23 | CIN | CHC | W 4-3 | 42 | 40 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.185 | -0.405 | 1.464 | 12 | 13 |
| 3 | 1935-07-28 (2) | SLB | CHW | W 4-3 | 44 | 41 | 4 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 15 | 11 |
More oddities from this game:
- Both Nick Markakis (batting 2nd) and Adam Jones (3rd) had lines of 5-0-4-0. Batter games of 4+ hits with no runs or RBI are rare in themselves; there were only 2 such regulation games last year. But teammates doing it in the same game has happened just once before since 1919. And while it seems almost impossible that Markakis and Jones could have so many fruitless hits while batting consecutively, the other instance of this event had the same configuration, with Rod Carew and Fred Lynn:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK198404130.shtml
- Derek Lee, hitting 6th, had 5 hits and no RBI (1 run). That gives Baltimore 3 players with 4+ hits and no RBI -- the first time that's ever been done in the game-searchable era (1919-present). As you might guess, #4-5 hitters Matt Wieters and Luke Scott each went 0 for 5.
- It's the first time this year, and just the 4th time since 2009, that a team had 18+ hits in regulation and still lost.
By the way, the fact that Baltimore had no walks to go with their 18 hits is not at all unusual.
June 18th, 2011 at 2:50 am
John, the similarities between the Orioles games tonight and that 1984 Angels game was pretty eerie.
As you mentioned the #2-3 hitters each went 5-0-4-0 in both games. Also, the #4-5 hitters were each hitless in both games. You mentioned Derrek Lee hitting 6th with 4 hits. In the Angels game, Brian Downing hit 6th and had 3 hits. The Orioles had 12 LOB tonight - the Angels had 11. The Orioles has no walks - the Angels only 1.
Where the games differ is that Angels were even more inefficient in run production than the Orioles tonight, at least by my reasoning. The Angels managed only 1 run on 14 hits that included 3 XBH, one of which was a leadoff homer in the 9th. So, they cashed in none of their baserunners at all. In contrast, the Orioles tonight were a respectable 4-15 (0.267) with RISP.
June 18th, 2011 at 3:00 am
@1, Doug -- Great followup on that Angels game. (BTW, D-Lee had 5 hits -- the 2nd 5-hit, no-RBI game in the majors this year.)
June 18th, 2011 at 3:04 am
That Angels game was one of only 13 times since 1919 that a team has scored one run or less while amassing 14 or more hits in a 9-inning game.
The game below is the only one of those 13 where the team was actually shutout. The Indians outhit the Senators 14-13, but still lost 9-0.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1192807102.shtml
June 18th, 2011 at 3:22 am
In contrast to the 5-0-4-0 lines, guess who had a 4-3-3-0 line tonight?
That was Ichiro's line, and he looked like the old Ichiro doing it. He's now raised his BA 23 points in 6 games since his benching last week. Talk about getting a guy's attention.
June 18th, 2011 at 3:31 am
And how about the star-crossed career of Milt Gaston, who pitched that cagey 14-hit shutout? He starts out with the 1924 Yankees, who snap a 3-year pennant streak. They trade him to the Browns in a big deal for Urban Shocker; he spends 3 years there as the Browns slide to the bottom. He pitches 1 year for the Senators, who in 1928 have one of their 2 off years in the decade from 1924-33.
In '29 it's on to the Red Sox; already mired in last place for years, the BoSox actually escape the cellar in one of Gaston's 3 years, albeit with a 62-90 record (Gaston went 2-13 that year, 27-52 for the 3 years). For balance, he ends his career with the White Sox, just in time for one of the worst 3-year runs in their history, averaging 95 losses.
For his career, Gaston had a respectable ERA+ of 96, but a W-L record of 97-164.
If anyone deserved a little bit of luck in crafting a 14-hit shutout, it was Milt Gaston!
June 18th, 2011 at 3:56 am
@5.
Great stuff, John. Never heard of Milt Gaston before. Thanks.
June 18th, 2011 at 7:17 am
[...] thing about the 8-4 win was that the Nats succeeded despite giving 18(!) Baltimore Orioles hits: Orioles Oddities: 4 runs on 18 hits in 9 innings (Baseball Reference) How unprecedented is scoring only 4 runs on 18 hits? It has not happened since [...]
June 18th, 2011 at 9:29 am
Love the '84 Angels-A's game. Couldn't help but notice that the A's not only started a 39-yr-old Davey Lopes in CF, but they batted him 3rd. I didn't realize he was so old (27) when he made his debut. That led me to notice that Lopes stole 82% of his 557 bases AFTER his 30th birthday. That can't be too common.
June 18th, 2011 at 10:08 am
With the benefit of being able to see the BRef box, I observe that the Orioles were respectable with runners in scoring position, 4 for 15 (0.267). My initial reaction was that they must have put up some crooked number with RISP to have scored so few runs on so many hits.
Interesting that with the four doubles, the O's ended up with an OPS of 0.942, higher than the Nationals.
Too bad you can't search in the play index for a team game based on a calculated stat like OPS because it would generate an unusual list. Teams scoring 4 or less runs on 18 or more hits with an OPS >= 0.942.
Conclusion ....timing is everything.
June 20th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
I think the Orioles just went through a spate of games (3 or 4 in a row - Oakland was an opponent for at least part of this) without any XBH at all and even won one of them.
This is what has made it so frustrating to be an Orioles fan this year - inability to get the timely hit (despite the team being ranked high in BA w/ runners on), leaving small villages on the basepaths, lack of power with men on, and bonehead things like sending runners when they are out by 10-15 feet.