Tuesday two-day roundup: Games of July 4 & 5
Posted by John Autin on July 6, 2011
Catching up on the recent games, starting with Tuesday, July 5:
-- Justin Verlander's 7-start win streak is over. Dan Haren beat the Tigers 1-0 on 2 hits with 9 Ks and no walks. Verlander went 7.2 IP with 8 Ks but lost for the first time since April 27. In his last 8 starts, he allowed 6 runs in 64.1 IP, an 0.84 ERA, with 65 Ks and 10 walks.
- Verlander was ejected after issuing his 2nd walk of the game; Jim Leyland had been tossed in the 7th and Bobby Abreu in the 1st for arguing balls and strikes.
- Haren's gem earned a 92 Game Score, a career best and tied for the 4th-highest this year; here are the previous 12 Game Scores of 90+. Haren had a 91 in a 1-hitter on April 12.
- It was the 2nd time this year that both starters threw at least 120 pitches (122 for Haren, 129 for Verlander).
-- Since Roger Maris hit 61 HRs 50 years ago, the highest season total by a Yankee LHB is 44, by Tino Martinez in 1997. After hitting a pair in Tuesday's win, Curtis Granderson is on track to top Tino's mark; Granderson has 25 HRs in New York's 84 games, a 48-HR pace. Since Maris & Mantle in '61, only A-Rod has hit 48 or more HRs as a Yankee (2005 & '07).
- CC Sabathia (7 IP, 0 R, 11 K) has allowed 1 run in 22.2 IP over his last 3 starts, with 33 Ks. He's now 12-4, 2.90.
-- When you're hitting a buck-and-a-quarter, making a game-saving defensive play is like manna from heaven. Darnell McDonald's throw to the plate cut down Edwin Encarnacion for the last out of the game -- or so said the umpire -- preserving Boston's 3-2 win and saving Jonathan Papelbon (1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HR) from his 2nd blown save of the year. It was the first OF assist this season for McDonald, who had 9 last year.
- Jon Lester left with a lat strain after 4 near-perfect innings and is expected to go on the disabled list.
- Jose Bautista hit the HR off Papelbon, his 28th; it was his first hit off Papelbon in 8 ABs. In Toronto's last 162 games, Joey Bats has 59 HRs, 127 RBI, 124 Runs, 117 walks, 100 Ks, and an OPS over 1.100.
-- On June 17, the Orioles had 18 hits and just 4 runs in a 9-inning game. Tuesday, they had 12 hits and 2 HRs in 9 innings, but scored just 2 runs. It's just the 11th 9-inning game in searchable history with at least 2 HRs and 12 hits, but just 2 runs. All 11 of those teams lost; 9 of the 11 games happened since 1991.
- What else did those 2 Orioles games have in common? No walks. The O's are 13th in the AL in walks drawn; Mark Reynolds (50) has more than 1/5 of the team total (245).
-- The lowest qualifying batting average in the live-ball era was Rob Deer's .179 in 1991. Both Adam Dunn and Dan Uggla are below that mark through Tuesday's games.
- Uggla had a terrific game, 2 for 2 (HR, double) and 2 walks, but he's still batting just .178 with a .250 OBP this year.
- A day after hitting a clutch game-tying 2-run HR in the 8th inning, Dunn went 0-5 with 3 Ks and stranded 5 runners, 4 in scoring position. He's batting .167 with a .299 OBP and just 8 HRs in 301 PAs this season. Dunn had a big Opening Day -- HR, double, 4 RBI -- but his season went south quickly; he was at .168 after 10 games and hasn't been above .216 since then. From May 19, his last day at .200 or higher, Dunn has gone 15 for 118 (.127) with 57 Ks.
-- Corny sitcom plot: Character gets bonked on the head, becomes a completely different person for a while, then gets bonked again and returns to normal. On Monday, Jason Bay (4 HRs in his first 59 games) returned to Dodger Stadium, the site of the face-to-fence collision last July that would end his 2010 season with a severe concussion. In the 6th inning, he made a running catch that ended with another facial at the wall, but he was OK and finished out that game. Tuesday, he slammed 2 HRs, including a 3-run drive to the opposite field, helping the Mets to a 6-0 win. (In truth, Bay's bat has been heating up for a few weeks, but I'm hoping that a 2-HR game provides more than just symbolic closure to his year-plus struggle at the plate.)
____________________
Late notes from games of Monday, July 4:
-- For the first time since 1992, every team in the majors has at least 2 shutout wins and 2 shutout losses within the first 85 games of the season.
--Â My presumption of Wily Mo Pena's return to the minors was premature. He's still with the Diamondbacks, got into Monday's game as a pinch-hitter, and hit a HR -- naturally -- starting Arizona's comeback from a 6-1 deficit en route to an 8-6 win. Pena is 3 for 4 as a PH, with 2 HRs. [Update: Pena struck out as a pinch-hitter Tuesday.]
-- A couple of notes on the Phillies' 1-0 win over Florida:
- It was their 4th win this year without an extra-base hit -- more than in any full season since 1998.
- In 86 games, they have 18 wins when scoring 3 runs or less -- that's more of those wins in 86 games than in any season but one in searchable history (to 1919). They had 19 in 1968.
- Vance Worley (7 IP, 0 R, 2 H) has made 8 starts. In 6 of them, he has allowed 1 run or less while going at least 5 IP. He is 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA so far.
-- Single + sac bunt + fly out moving runner to 3rd + infield single = ballgame. Cards 1, Reds 0.
- Eleventh game this year in which neither team had an extra-base hit; the seasons from 2001-10 averaged less than 9 such games all year.
-- Sergio Santos, the only player in the majors right now who was born on July 4th, got a nice little birthday present: his blown save (a HR on the first pitch he threw) turned into a win, when Aaron Crow balked home the winning run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. It was a rough night all around for Crow; he gave up Adam Dunn's go-ahead 2-run HR in the 8th, threw a wild pitch in the 9th to put the winning run on 3rd with 1 out, then walked Juan Pierre (who's in the middle of all the action lately) to bring up Dunn again before balking on a 1-0 count.
-- A.J. Burnett took a 2-hit shutout into the 7th and had just been given a 2-0 lead, but after 2 walks and a single scored 1 run, Austin Kearns (who hadn't homered in his last 57 games) hit a 2-out, 3-run shot to RF, propelling Cleveland to a 6-3 win.
- Burnett has made it into the 7th inning 10 times this year and allowed 11 runs.
- Derek Jeter went 0-4 in his return from the DL. The Yankees are 35-28 in his starts, 15-5 otherwise. (No, I'm not suggesting there's much significance to that.)
-- Tim Lincecum allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 5 IP and fell to 6-7. The only other times Lincecum has ever been under .500 at any point in a season were when he lost his first decision in 2009 and '11.
-- Mark Reynolds is still hot (5 HRs, 9 RBI in last 3 games); Baltimore is still cold (lost 6 of 7).
July 6th, 2011 at 2:00 am
I see the Boston official scorer credited Papelbon with a save for his night's work. That must be in the top 10 or even top 5 for ugliest saves of the year.
Does anyone know if the save is automatically credited if it's not the rare, "pitch 3+ innings effectively" variety. Or, is the pitcher supposed to be judged to have pitched effectively to earn any save?
July 6th, 2011 at 2:18 am
Watch out for the Angels.
Three solid starters in Weaver, Haren and Santana (much better than his W-L). Decent bullpen with Downs and Walden . And, Wells and Hunter almost certainly will be better than their 81 and 97 OPS+ so far.
July 6th, 2011 at 2:43 am
"Single + sac bunt + fly out moving runner to 3rd + infield single = ballgame. Cards 1, Reds 0."
My apologies, for stirring this pot again, but- There is a piece of evidence, that singles, even infield ones, have more value than walks. (Maybe Ichiro didn't always bat in runs with his, but then again, we all know, that RBI's are about opportunity/ circumstance, right?....)
It's obvious, that sabermetric analysis, is a very powerful tool, but, as baseball continues to move away, from a high-scoring environment, it is clear (to me) that, the 'little things' will continue to grow in importance, as well.
What has happened to Dan Uggla?? Has he been hurt, or is he just Dunn.....er, done?
July 6th, 2011 at 3:07 am
The Phillies just got their season high in runs and hits.
July 6th, 2011 at 3:19 am
@1: I wouldn't mind seeing wins replaced, with some sort of 'quality start' type stat......no idea what would be a similar stat, to replace saves with. Maybe re-define saves, to mean, 'tying run at the plate/on base".
July 6th, 2011 at 4:17 am
Great stuff JA! Dunn is having a terrible season, there is no doubt. I understand Ozzie wants to have him see better pitches so he hits him 3rd, but the Sox gave tonight's game away, this was a game they needed to win. Put Dunn in the 7 hole and if he get's pitched around so be it. The White Sox beat themselves more than any team in baseball.
July 6th, 2011 at 4:28 am
I was not aware that Mark Reynolds had 50 walks this year. At this pace he should have his best walks total for a season. He's been mashing the ball of late, and looks like he will have a little less than 160 SO's for the year. If he could squeak out .250 and 35 HR to go along with improved walks and strike outs, I think the O's would be happy.
July 6th, 2011 at 5:56 am
@3
I am going to paraphrase Bill James here. James said something to the effect that if we used statistical analysis to properly evaluate players when they were making $150,000 a year, how much more should we dig when players are making $15,000,000 a year? The gist here is that we should use all of the tools available to make sure a player's true contribution is being measured.
I agree that singles are better than walks. That is obvious and easy to measure since generally players do not go first to third, or score from second on a walk.
Now on July 4th we have this scoring description from the Jays/Red Sox game:
Boston - bottom of the fifth
J Ellsbury tripled to deep center, J Drew and M Scutaro scored.
D Pedroia walked, J Ellsbury scored.
Not sure how this happened (perhaps someone can fill me in). But it must be rare for a player to score from third on a walk when the bases are not loaded. It must have been a wild pitch or something.
But the value of the walk is NOT just getting a man to first base. It requires the pitcher to throw more, gives teammates more of a look at a pitcher's arsenal, and expedites the journey to a teams bull pen.
All this aside... As a baseball fan, I would rather SEE a single than a walk. I love watching Ichiro hit even though he has his sabermetric flaws. I even lobbied to has his potential assault on Pete Rose's all time professional hit record (MLB + Nippon) as a post on this site.
I also would rather see fielders make plays than a pitcher strike out a batter. 15+ strikeout games and no hitters are rare games - and something that I would surely love to have a ticket stub to, but it's the rarity of such games that makes them so special. Too many strikeouts and too many walks is NOT what the creator of baseball wanted - whoever he was.
I also don't want to see softball type scores that were the result of the offenses found in the previous post regarding players hitting "22+ home runs in a team's first 81 games." That era has taken away from what Jose Batista has accomplished in the past 162 games. I remember being amazed when someone told me that Wade Boggs once had a .400 average over 162 games. I can't feel the same way about Joey Bats' accomplishment because of the "steroid era" nonsense.
July 6th, 2011 at 7:02 am
Everything, in balance. The pendulum swings one way, and then another. And, the 'pendulum', if you will, has broken new ground, with the new way of looking at the game of baseball. And, this is good. But, no one way of thinking, describes the whole picture. I suspect, that there are not going to be a ton of 22HR half-seasons, in the near future. So, I am hopeful, that all of the old-schoolers (Chuck??) small-ballers(including myself) and SABR people, can all find common ground, in their love of this game.
Bautista?? Personally, I'd bet, that he is legit, but what do I know??
I'm stoked that TOR has him, anyway.....and that PIT is um, 'contending', with the .500-ish record, lol 🙂
July 6th, 2011 at 7:14 am
I saw yesterday that the Astros used 3 pitchers, all with the same last name (Rodriguez)...that has to be some sort of record, not?
July 6th, 2011 at 8:00 am
@ 2 Doug
I have a friend that is an Angels fan. I Looked at the Angels offensive stats as a team. Brutal. They've done not so much of the 'small ball' stuff this year--their division-mate Texas has been better. They don't run quite as well as they have in previous years, I don't think, they GIDP more than anyone, and if you look at the league batting page you'll see that they have a decent OPS but are one of the lowest-scoring teams.
Angels, at least so far this year, seem kinda like every other team (sans the teams in bonafide hitters parks--Rockies, Rangers, and D-Backs, I guess) in a West division: nice/okay pitching, blah hitting.
And yes, Wells is 'heating up' relative to his ice-coldness earlier in the season but he will never provide value compared to his cost, IMO. Terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible move by the Halos, courtesy of the domino effect started by the Nats: Nats overpay Werth, upping Crawford's price; Boston gets their 1B, then they overpay Crawford, snatching him from the Angels (similar to but not quite as sympathy-inducing as when a grown adult snatches something from a helpless baby); Halos get desperate, trade a good bat in Napoli (remember when I said the Halos offense has been brutal?) to the Jays for Wells who had a bounce-back year but is due $86 million over 4 years, the Halos suavely twist the Jays' arms behind their backs ("Send five million in cash to help offset the value of Wells' contract! It makes a difference, yes! C'mon!" Later, to themselves: "We totally stole Wells from them for that bum Napoli and Whoever Rivera. And they even sent us cash--less than 1/17th of the total value of the contract!!! I think we're winning baseball exec of the year!!). Halos totally prove that the risk of trying to get a shot in the arm is shooting yourself in the foot. Twice. Both feet. Meanwhile the Jays dumped Rios and Wells and signed Bautista to a team-friendly contract (signed in blood, of course), Rivera's OPS+ as of today is 83, Wells is at 81 (although, Wells has played less so he's been more valuable due to missed time), and, oh yeah, the Jays traded Napoli back into the Halos' division where in limited time he has an OPS+ of 127,(Only 127 you say?!), which would be good for 2nd on the Angels and is even more impressive because its being adjusted for a park where it actually requires scoring runs to win.
Given that the Angels so often lose out in the free agent sweepstakes to the Yanks and Sox, and there are a couple premium 1B bats on the market this off-season and the Yanks/Sox won't be able to steal them away from a willing bidder, I think the Angels may need to go after one of those guys.
I mean, I know they have Morales but how long does it take to come back from breaking your leg? Geez. Snatch one of those proven guys, give Morales some hacks when he gets healthy again, then move Morales to address other obvious offensive shortcomings. Perhaps even trade Morales and Scioscia for an offensive weapon and a subway sandwich. One of the $5 ones. (I know Conger has cooled off a ton but I'm sorry, whatever baseball genius Scioscia is suppposed to have is totally absent when it comes to catchers. Mathis is a horrible everyday player even with offensive levels tumbling the last few years. I keep thinking that one day Deadspin is going to break a story that Scioscia made a huge error in judgment back in like '06, pulling a Favre to Mathis' Sterger.)
@ John Autin
I was watching that NYY-CLE game on Monday and said to myself, "I will have to tell JA about Burnett's scoreless outing," but I didn't really mean it. Burnett's season has actually been okay primarily because this year he loses it at the very end of his starts whereas last year he lost it midway and Yanks fans would be sitting there in the third inning, one saying to the other, "can we come back?" with the other responding, "fuhgeddaboudit. Let's go to Lombardi's and then play stickball before pickpocketing tourists," 'cause that's how us New Yorkers talk.
Anyway, I'm starting to get more annoyed with Girardi because he pulls his starters when it seems like he should leave them in and he leaves them in when he should pull them. No disrespect to Shelley Duncan--he was a good bench guy for the Yanks--or Austin Kearns (same role), but when Duncan battles like he did that AB and A.J. can't put him away... just bring in the pen. Because looking at the stats, which say that Kearns hasn't homered since back when Minnesota still loved Mauer, is a foolish move. This is Burnett. Here is the internal dialogue Girardi could be having:
Brain: You think he can get out of this jam?
Gut: I dunno. He's looked good today.
Brain: That was earlier. I'm talking about now.
Gut: He's been good this year. This guy coming up is a bum.
Brain: So he's going to get out of the jam?
Gut: Oh, hell no--he's A.J. Burnett. He's like that guy that threw the lit firecracker into the crowd of fans.
Brain: Vince Coleman?
Gut: Nah, I like that guy. It had to be some other overrated idiot.
Brain: It was Vince Coleman. How is he like Vince Coleman?
Gut: Was that really the guy that threw the lit firecracker into the crowd of fans?
Brain: Yes.
Gut: Well, yeah, okay, then he's like that. It's like you're having a good time and everyone is like 'yeah, this is great,' and then you throw a lit firecracker into a crowd of fans.
Brain: I don't understand what you mean.
Gut: It means you have to let him have a good time and get him the hell out of there before he does the pitching equivalent of throwing a lit firecracker into a crowd of fans.
Brain: Oh, okay.
Brain: Should I pull him?
Gut: Yeah, why not... he just gave up the lead anyway.
Brain: Why didn't you tell me to pull him when I first asked you? Why did you waste all that time?!
Gut: I dunno. You had that stupid clipboard in your hand. This is A.J. Burnett. Clipboard is irrelevant.
Brain: But it makes me look smart.
Gut: Yeah, but no one thinks you're smart.
Brain: Hey, Gut...
Gut: Yeah?
Brain: You think I'll last to the end of my contract?
Gut: Look at YOUR STUPID CLIPBOARD AND TELL ME IF THE ANSWER IS THERE!
I'm 100% certain that the above conversation is as useful as Girardi's stupid clipboard.
And as for Sabathia, while I know he starts the season a bit slowly, the lack of All-Star selections in the prime of his career are just more evidence undermining AS selections as part of someone's HoF criteria. He has been a top starter in MLB for a while now but since the beginning of 08 the only AS selection he has is when his manager put him in? Oh please. Even Girardi's clipboard can get that right.
July 6th, 2011 at 8:58 am
In addition to Papelbon's dubious save, David Hernandez got one for Arizona for retiring one batter with a four run lead and two men on base. That is ,getting an out without allowing the guy on deck to score. That has got to be a 98% proposition in general.
July 6th, 2011 at 10:42 am
Great thread, everyone.
@1 @2
Doug, I've been meaning to tell you, for a while, that I enjoy your posts. ~~sucks up~~ They are well-written, astute and statistically researched.
@3
Nash, there's no doubt that a single has more run-scoring potential than a walk, even with the bases empty because of the (small) possibility the defense might make an error playing or handling the ball, leading to an extra base or bases.
@8
Thomas, for sure a non-intentional walk may extend the pitcher more than a single but that is a tough one to measure sabermetrically, I think.
@8 @9
Bautista's dominance of other ML hitters in the home run department is a little obscured by the break in seasons. He has hit 84 to date in the last two seasons, while, I think, Konerko is 2nd in all of baseball with 61. Trying to wrap my head around the numbers, Bautista has hit over 33% more home runs than his nearest pursuer.
I'm not sure if even Bonds, Sosa or McGwire, in their time, towered above the rest of the league that much. (Realize that it's still a small sample, but ......).
July 6th, 2011 at 10:48 am
@11
Fireworks, like wow. ~~pretends he's a teen-ager~~
So much in your post that I have to pick out what good stuff to respond to.
A quick reaction is, do you write for sitcoms? 🙂 Love your dialogue. If I'm not mistaken (too lazy to check) you authored a little parody of a Yankee fan site not many blogs ago.
July 6th, 2011 at 10:55 am
Does anyone know if the save is automatically credited if it's not the rare, "pitch 3+ innings effectively" variety. Or, is the pitcher supposed to be judged to have pitched effectively to earn any save?
Yes, it's automatic. It's hard to pitch that terribly and still convert a save opportunity. You're right that Papelbon's must be one of the ugliest, with 5 baserunners allowed in just one IP. Still, only 2 runs scored.
Incidentally, I think the "effective" criterion was removed from the rule book for the 3-inning saves.
July 6th, 2011 at 11:00 am
This is just a guess, but we might have to go back to Jimmie Foxx's 1932-33 seasons to find a batter out-homering the competition by as much as Bautista has in 2010-11.
1. Foxx, 106 HRs
2. Ruth, 75 HRs
Foxx out-homered Ruth by 41% for those 2 years.
(How's that for a taste of your own medicine, Bambino?)
July 6th, 2011 at 11:06 am
@11, Fireworks = 2011 Top Ten Blogrant Nominee.
BTW, I think I've mentioned this before, but ... My good friend Doug Schwartz has dubbed Burnett "Hyman Roth," based on this line in The Godfather, Part II
Frankie Pentangeli [to Michael Corleone]: "Your father did business with Hyman Roth; your father respected Hyman Roth; but your father never trusted Hyman Roth."
July 6th, 2011 at 11:12 am
@10, Dave -- At best, the Rodriguez triad could only tie their own "record," set on June 24, when the same 3 (in the same order) combined for all 9 innings.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/tgl.cgi?team=HOU&t=p&year=2011
July 6th, 2011 at 11:51 am
Thomas Court @8: "I also would rather see fielders make plays than a pitcher strike out a batter."
Hear, hear!
That's one of the reasons why I would favor a rule to limit pitching changes -- at least, mid-inning changes. Relievers have higher K rates than starters (20.3% of all PAs last year for RPs, 17.6% for SPs), and fresh pitchers have higher K rates (19.5% K rate on first batter faced, 18.5% overall).
July 6th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
"Darnell McDonald's throw to the plate cut down Edwin Encarnacion for the last out of the game -- or so said the umpire -- ......"
I know my loyalities in the matter are obvious, but can a Red Sox fan please tell me, honestly, that Encarnacions's bent right knee, as he tumbled, was not on the plate before Varitek's tag?
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=16651445&query=game_pk%3D288201
@11
Fireworks, I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is Girardi's infamous clipboard? Is that part of the knee-jerk managerial style?
July 6th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
JA, I can't believe you overlooked the KC-CHW game. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=310704104
What a game in Chicago After an anonymous player simple known as "Batter" came out of the stands and hit a pinch-hit bomb in the top of the ninth, they went back to the first inning, where Juan Pierre hit a homerun without even getting an at-bat. Then, they went to the bottom of the ninth where AJ Pierzynski scored on a balk, went back to third, and then scored on a balk again. The game then went back and replayed the middle three innings, where the events unfolded the same way they did the first time, causing the universe to collapse and the game to end.
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/masn_vlad_guerreros_days_as_orioles_cleanup_hitter_could_be_numbered/ (post 8)
July 6th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
post 8, that is.
July 6th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
@8, Thomas Court -- David Schoenfield blogged on the unentertaining aspect of high K totals today:
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/13252/strikeouts-taking-over-baseball
July 6th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
@21, Must-R -- Obviously, I'm using the wrong play-by-play source!
July 6th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
@ Neil L.
Girardi likes to consult his clipboard to look at stats, some advanced. But he does stuff like see that one guy is 1-4 against the pitcher and another guy is 3-8 and he pretends like those are relevant sample sizes.
Also he thinks the platoon advantage is more important than keeping a pitcher that has just retired the only batter he faced in lieu of a lefty that sucks at retiring lefties.
July 6th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
@10 Dave
@18 JA
Yes it looks like a repeat record.
3 pitchers with the same surname appearing in the same game for 1 team and the only 3 pitchers used in a 9 inning game:
Wandy Rodriguez
Fernando Rodriguez
Aneury Rodriguez
I mentioned about this when it first happened in the James Shields thread the next day on 6/25/2011 I believe.
I first heard it the night it happened when Vince Scully mentioned it during the Dodgers game.
I thought he said: "first time since 1901" but he might have meant from the start of "modern day stat keeping".
Here are the Boxes of the 2 games:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU201106240.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT201107050.shtml
July 6th, 2011 at 9:24 pm
@11 The Rangers problem is relief pitching. They are a different team with Hamilton in the lineup, but I see problems for them if they don't get bullpen help.
July 6th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
But he does stuff like see that one guy is 1-4 against the pitcher and another guy is 3-8 and he pretends like those are relevant sample sizes.
Even if he does believe that, I hear similar comments from most managers, clipboard or not. (And I thought Joe G was usually consulting a binder.)
Also he thinks the platoon advantage is more important than keeping a pitcher that has just retired the only batter he faced in lieu of a lefty that sucks at retiring lefties.
A generic lefty pitcher is better against a generic lefty hitter than a generic righty. Girardi isn't pulling David Robertson for Boone Logan, he's pulling middling guys. In Logan's career, he's held lefties to a .681 OPS. As a Yankee, it's been under .600. This season, he got off to a sketchy start (speaking of small sample sizes....), but has now allowed only 4 lefties on base in his last 18 PA, and only 1 of those was a hit.
July 7th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
The Verlander - Haren battle was a great game and got me wondering. Verlander was only 1 out away from finishing the game (before he got tossed). When is the last time both teams only used 1 pitcher in a 9-inning game? Is there a way to use Play Index to find this? I would love to see the number of such games each year (or decade) over history.
July 7th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
@29, Randy -- There have been 4 games this year in which both SPs went the distance in a regulation game; coincidentally, 3 of them involved a White Sox pitcher (different pitcher each time).
The double-CG was extremely common until about 1960. Just taking a 10-years-at-a-time snapshot:
-- 1920, 376
-- 1930, 204
-- 1940, 221
-- 1950, 173
-- 1960, 72
-- 1970, 54 (and that's with 58% more games in the majors than a decade before, due to expansion + longer schedule)
-- 1980, 91
-- 1990, 16
-- 2000, 9 (despite 97% more games in the majors than there were through 1960)
-- 2010, 7
July 7th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
P.S. to Randy -- To find those games via the Play Index:
-- Play Index > Game Finders--Player Pitching
-- In the first set of radio buttons, choose "Find Number of Players Matching Criteria in a Game."
-- Select whatever year(s) you want.
-- Under Pitcher's Role, choose "CG."
-- If you want to weed out shortened games, under Select Additional Criteria, set IP greater than or equal to 8.
-- Click "Get Report."
July 7th, 2011 at 11:25 pm
P.P.S. to Randy -- Here's the last double-CG this year:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN201106150.shtml
July 8th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Thanks for all the info John. It is interesting to me to see that there were only 9 such games in the 2000's. It looks like this number will be going up this decade though.
July 8th, 2011 at 8:42 am
John and Randy, I don't understand. When I do the same search as described above in #31 for the 2000's I get over 20 games found, not 9. What am I doing wrong?
July 8th, 2011 at 10:08 am
@34, Dan -- My searches were for the single years listed -- e.g., 2000, not the 2000s.
In retrospect, I'm not really sure why I did it that way, but that's what I did.
July 8th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
@35, John
Ah ha! I see it now, thanks for clearing that up.
July 8th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
I had the same thought Dan.
Thanks for clearing that up.