Consecutive Complete Games
Posted by Andy on July 1, 2010
The Mariners threw their second straight complete game against the Yankees yesterday. Let's delve into that a bit.
Here are the teams to throw back-to-back CGs so far this year:
| Rk | Strk Start | End | Games | W | L | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | WP | BK | Opp | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEA | 2010-06-29 | 2010-06-30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18.0 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 2 | 1.50 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NYY |
| 2 | SEA | 2010-06-18 | 2010-06-19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18.0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0.50 | 0 | 2 | 0 | CIN |
| 3 | CIN | 2010-05-11 | 2010-05-12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | PIT |
| 4 | CLE | 2010-04-15 | 2010-04-16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | TEX,CHW |
As you can see, it hasn't been long since the Mariners last had B2B CGs, having done it just a couple of weeks ago. It was the same two guys--Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez--who threw them. (More coming in a separate post on Hernandez's performance.)
The last time a team had 3 straight complete games was in 2004, when the Twins blanked the Royals in 3 straight games. (For those with good memories, this series was mentioned recently on an older blog post.) In this day and age, three straight CGs is very good. Three straight shutouts? Amazing. (The time before that a team had 3 straight CGs was in 2000 by Oakland, and the last time it was 3 shutouts was the 1995 Orioles. The last time a team shut out the same opponent in 3 straight games ( 3 complete games by the starters) was the Expos against the Phillies in 1979. That particular streak was also mentioned on that old blog post I linked above.
Anyway, getting back to the Mariners/Yankees games, the Mariners have a shot at tying their franchise record for consecutive complete games. Here are all the times they've thrown 3 straight:
| Rk | Strk Start | End | Games | W | L | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | WP | BK | Opp | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEA | 1990-08-13 | 1990-08-15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 27.0 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 0 | 1.33 | 0 | 0 | 1 | BAL |
| 2 | SEA | 1988-08-13 | 1988-08-16 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 27.0 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 1.67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | CHW,BOS |
| 3 | SEA | 1987-05-28 | 1987-05-30 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 26.0 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 4 | 2.77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NYY,BAL |
| 4 | SEA | 1987-04-17 | 1987-04-19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 2.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | OAK |
| 5 | SEA | 1984-06-30 | 1984-07-02 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 26.0 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 1 | 1.38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | BOS,MIL |
| 6 | SEA | 1983-08-28 | 1983-08-30 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 2.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | CLE,MIL |
| 7 | SEA | 1980-04-12 | 1980-04-14 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 28.0 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 1.29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | TOR,OAK |
I, for one, would not be willing to bet that they match it today.
The last time the Yankees had two complete games pitched by the same opponent in consecutive games was in 2000 by the Blue Jays. The last time an opponent shut out the Yankees twice in a row on complete games was in 1984 by the Angels.
Of course, old-time baseball players and fans go crazy about this sort of thing. Consecutive complete games used to be the expectation--it was more newsworthy if a team failed to throw a CG.
July 1st, 2010 at 8:45 am
Perhaps worth mentioning: the 2005 Chicago White Sox had four consecutive complete games during the AL Championship Series.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2005_ALCS.shtml
July 1st, 2010 at 8:53 am
Yeah, that's definitely worth mentioning...
July 1st, 2010 at 9:14 am
"The last time the Yankees were shutout by the same opponent in consecutive games was in 2000 by the Blue Jays."
Well, the Yanks weren't shutout in those two games - the Jays allowed 5 combined ER - but it was 2 complete games. Interestingly, it was Chris Carpenter and Kelvim Escobar. Whatever happened to Kelvim?!
July 1st, 2010 at 9:18 am
Typo, thanks. Fixed that and added the correct info.
July 1st, 2010 at 9:57 am
Andy-
When you say "shut out", you are referring to "complete game shut outs", right? It's a bit confusing how you're using the language. I'm pretty sure a team (the Royals maybe?) got shut out for a whole series last year, but they weren't all CGs.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:00 am
Yeah, sorry, I meant CG SHO. I fixed that.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:06 am
Ellis, Escobar's arm has fallen on hard times. He really seemed to be finally putting it together as a great pitcher by '07. He then had shoulder surgery and missed all of '08. He made it back to the bigs in the middle of last season but went back on the DL after one appearance. I believe the Mets signed him to a minor league contract this spring, but he had problems again and hasn't pitched all year. It seems highly unlikely he'll ever manage much success again, but I'm rooting for him.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:41 am
I know you said there would be more on Felix later, but WOW. Since the start of 2008 only 3 pitchers have thrown 3 straight CG's, as mentioned yesterday Cliff Lee just became that third person to do it. And now Felix has thrown three straight 9 inning starts (and 8.2 innings before that!) Team members to do something so RARE these days at the SAME TIME! Unbelievable.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:15 pm
The Orioles tossed three straight complete games against the Brewers, June 7-9 of 1982. No shutouts, though Mike McGregor only gave up 2 unearned on the 8th. I remember this chiefly because Daniel Okrent mentioned it in Nine Innings - the game he wrote about took place on June 10.
July 1st, 2010 at 2:21 pm
I did hear that Cliff Lee was the only pitcher to throw a CG victory at the new Yankee Stadium, prior to last night's effort by Felix Hernandez.
True? Or was he just the only visiting hurler to do it?