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The Not So Sweet Sixteen (Ouch)

Posted by Steve Lombardi on January 15, 2010

Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Post-Season Pitching Game Finder - here are the games, since the Wild Card Play-off Format was introduced to baseball, where a starting pitcher went 8 innings or more in a post-season game and he was charged with the loss in the contest:

Rk Player Date Series Gm# Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS PO BK WP ERA
1 Johan Santana 2006-10-03 ALDS 1 MIN OAK L 2-3 GS-8 ,L 8.0 5 2 2 1 8 1 107 72 71     30 29 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.25
2 Jose Contreras 2005-10-11 ALCS 1 CHW LAA L 2-3 GS-9 ,L 8.1 7 3 3 0 4 1 102 68 61     32 31 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3.24
3 Matt Morris 2002-10-14 NLCS 5 STL SFG L 1-2 GS-9 ,L 8.2 6 2 2 2 4 0 100 62 66     36 29 1 0 1 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.08
4 Barry Zito 2001-10-13 ALDS 3 OAK NYY L 0-1 GS-8 ,L 8.0 2 1 1 1 6 1 110 74 79     29 26 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.12
5 Randy Johnson 2001-10-10 NLDS 2 ARI STL L 1-4 GS-8 ,L 8.0 6 3 3 2 9 1 113 78 65     31 27 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3.38
6 Al Leiter 2000-10-26 WS 5 NYM NYY L 2-4 GS-9 ,L 8.2 7 4 3 3 9 2 142 84 62     36 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.12
7 Tim Hudson 2000-10-06 ALDS 3 OAK NYY L 2-4 CG 8 ,L 8.0 6 4 3 4 5 0 122 72 57     35 31 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3.38
8 Randy Johnson 1999-10-05 NLDS 1 ARI NYM L 4-8 GS-9 ,L 8.1 8 7 7 3 11 2     47     36 32 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7.56
9 Kevin Brown 1998-10-21 WS 4 SDP NYY L 0-3 GS-8 ,L 8.0 8 3 3 3 8 0 118 73 59     35 30 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.38
10 Randy Johnson 1998-09-29 NLDS 1 HOU SDP L 1-2 GS-8 ,L 8.0 9 2 2 1 9 1 106 78 64     33 31 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2.25
11 Todd Stottlemyre 1998-09-29 ALDS 1 TEX NYY L 0-2 CG 8 ,L 8.0 6 2 2 4 8 0 121 72 66     31 25 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 2.25
12 Chad Ogea 1997-10-13 ALCS 5 CLE BAL L 2-4 GS-8 ,L 8.0 6 2 2 2 4 0 94 62 64     30 27 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.25
13 Randy Johnson 1997-10-05 ALDS 4 SEA BAL L 1-3 CG 8 ,L 8.0 7 3 3 2 13 2 137 90 67     33 31 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.38
14 John Smoltz 1996-10-24 WS 5 ATL NYY L 0-1 GS-8 ,L 8.0 4 1 0 3 10 0 135 79 79     31 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00
15 Darren Oliver 1996-10-04 ALDS 3 TEX NYY L 2-3 GS-8 ,L 8.0 6 3 3 2 3 1 113 68 59     29 26 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 3.38
16 Erik Hanson 1995-10-04 ALDS 2 BOS CLE L 0-4 CG 8 ,L 8.0 4 4 4 4 5 1 119 73 59     34 28 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.50
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/15/2010.

 

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Note that, since 1995, there have been 960 games started in the post-season.  And, in 106 of those contests, the starting pitcher went 8+ innings.    So, it's rare for a starter, these days, to go that long in a post-season game - and it must really sting like a you-know-what when you go that long and get an "L" tagged on you as well...

5 Responses to “The Not So Sweet Sixteen (Ouch)”

  1. jksesq1 Says:

    Neat list although none of these was an "ultimate deciding game" (i.e. a Game 7 in a WS or CS, or a Game 5 in a DS). Going back to 1903 that would probably be a very short list. Smoltz, who is also in your list, was the losing pitcher in the amazing 1991 game 7, 1-0 game against the Twins, but only went 7.1 innings.

  2. jksesq1 Says:

    (Sorry for the typo, Smoltz was obviously not the losing pitcher in '91 Game 7 since he left in the 8th inning, and the game was not decided until the extras).

  3. Atlas Says:

    Randy Johnson makes the list four times. Most of those starts weren't too bad; no more than 3 ER except for the Mets game. In that game, his last 3 ER all came in the ninth after he was pulled.

  4. TheGoofyOne Says:

    Note that the Yankees did it to a pitcher seven times in six years...and never had it done to them in that time. Of course, with their bullpen, they didn't have to leave a pitcher in that long. I wouldn't be surprised to find similar trends with other dynasties. Still, I think the '96-01 Yankees were probably as good or better at rising to the occasion than any team in history.

  5. eorns Says:

    The Yankees did enough off-the-charts, statistically (almost) impossible stuff in those years to make an atheist believe in god.