Upon returning home from a local indie-ball contest on Friday night, the first tweet that caught our eye was this one by Friend Of Kernels and fellow former-ESPN-er Katie Sharp.
The matchup was not just Red Sox/Yankees in the Bronx, which is big enough, but it was Roger Clemens against Pedro Martinez. Through eight innings they combined for 21 strikeouts, one walk, zero runs, and just four over the minimum, with neither pitcher facing more than four batters in a frame. It was finally a Trot Nixon two-run homer in T9 (scoring Jeff Frye, who has never been a trivia answer because of this) that decided things in favor of the Bostonians.
So it was on Friday with Masahiro Tanaka, who (as noted above) became the third pitcher in Yankees history to strike out 13+ and lose. Clemens did issue a walk in that 1999 contest, so if you add the "walk-free" qualifier, the other two games stand alone in Pinstripes history.
Tanaka wasn't the only one to collect a 13-K performance on Friday either. Max Scherzer of the Nationals matched that total against the Padres, and got the win by lasting 8⅔ innings and not needing to involve those pesky bullpens. It was the fourth time Scherzer had fanned 13+ and allowed no more than one run, now the most in Nationals/Expos franchise history. The pitcher who did it three times? Pedro Martinez.
As for a pair of 13-K games on the same day, it's unusual but not rare. Happened three times last season. But Friday was the first day where one pitcher had a 13-K win and another had a 13-K loss since September 29, 2007, when John Maine of the Mets (W) and Aaron Harang of the Reds (L) both did it on the next-to-last day of the season.
The next day Stephen Strasburg topped Scherzer's performance with a career-high 15 Ks (his old mark of 14 had been set in his MLB debut). It's the first time in Nats/Expos team history that pitchers have recorded 13+ strikeouts in back-to-back games. The last for any team were Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber on July 1-2, 2015.
By the way, back in 2000, the next day, on Memorial Day, the Yankees and Oakland played another double complete game, this one between Andy Pettitte and Omar Olivares. Not only did Randy Velarde turn the 11th unassisted triple play in baseball history (there have been four since, and major props to Jim Kaat for recognizing it right away), but it remains the last time a team participated in double-CGs on consecutive days. Other teams, including the Yankees, have thrown back-to-back CGs on their own, but never since as part of a double.
Bases Come in Twos
Conditions were ripe for the first double-CG of the 2017 season on Tuesday between Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn; both struck out 10 in eight innings, Lynn allowed a 1st-inning homer to Yasmani Grandal for the game's only run... and then.
The rare two-base wild pitch uncorked by Kershaw not only tied the game, it sent us to extras and knocked both starters out. Trevor Rosenthal took over in B9, Kenley Jansen in T10, and it took a Logan Forsythe double in B13 to score Enrique Hernandez with the walkoff.
By inning, Forsythe's was the latest walkoff double for the Dodgers since Frank Howard beat the Mets, also in the 13th, or June 28, 1962. (That was loss #52 of the famous 120 in the Mets' inaugural season.) They hadn't hit any 13th-inning walkoff against the Cardinals since April 24, 1967, when Lou Johnson's single scored Wes Parker.
And as for Kershaw, he's the first Dodger in 33 seasons to work 9 innings of 1-run ball, strike out at least 10, and get a no-decision. None other than Fernando Valenzuela did that in a 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Reds on August 5, 1984 (he also surrendered the tying run in the 9th).
The Johnson Connection
(You don't think we mean Randy, do you?)
Although he didn't threaten us with a no-hitter, 26-year-old Brian Johnson of the Red Sox dazzled the Fenway faithful on Saturday with a five-hit, walk-free shutout of the Mariners on 109 pitches. And Johnson managed to find a way to bring Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez together (again) in this post. The last Red Sock to throw a home shutout with zero walks and at least eight K's? Yep, Pedro against the (Devil) Rays on August 12, 2004 (won 6-0). And tossing out the 8-K limit, Johnson is the youngest Boston pitcher to throw a walk-free shutout at Fenway since... 25-year-old Roger Clemens did that against Milwaukee on April 14, 1988. (Clemens also did it three times as a 24-year-old in 1987.)
Of course, the Red Sox also had quite a week in the strikeout department, with Craig Kimbrel capping a 20-strikeout performance Thursday against Texas. Starter Drew Pomeranz fanned 11 in his six innings, becoming just the third Sox pitcher to finish with that line. Although others have fanned 11 in six innings and kept going, the others to end there were John Lackey against the Orioles (July 5, 2014) and... mm-hmm, Pedro Martinez, against the Royals on August 30, 1999.
Aided by a controversial (and botched) replay review of a hit-by-pitch on Nomar Mazara, Kimbrel officially recorded four strikeouts in the 9th inning to finish the game. That made him the second pitcher ever to have two four-strikeout 9ths in his career; he also did it for the Braves on September 26, 2012.
Ignoring the length of the game, it was the sixth time Red Sox pitching has struck out 20+ in a game, the most of any team. The Cubs (thanks, Kerry Wood) have done it four times, and surprisingly, so have the Diamondbacks. The last time four different Rangers struck out thrice was July 29, 2009, against Justin Verlander's Tigers.
Smooth
Ervin Santana started our week with a shutout of his own on Tuesday, two-hitting the Orioles at Camden Yards while walking two and fanning six. It marked the first time Minnesota held the Orioles to two hits since June 8, 1973, when Bert Blyleven traded CGs with Dave McNally at Memorial Stadium (Twins won 2-0).
Santana also one-hit the White Sox on April 15, the lone blemish being a 3rd-inning single by Omar Narvaez. That gave Santana and Blyleven something else in common: Since the move in 1961, they are two of only three Twins pitchers ever to throw a two-hit shutout (SHO-2) and a one-hit shutout (SHO-1) in the same season. Blyleven's SHO-1 was against the Royals on May 24. The third pitcher to do it was Mudcat Grant in 1965.
Santana is among several active pitchers (Kershaw, Verlander, Felix, etc.) who have thrown an SHO-2, an SHO-1, and a no-hitter; ironically Santana's NH was not also an SHO-0. He gave up a 1st-inning run on an error, a steal, and a wild pitch against Cleveland on July 27, 2011; it remains the last NH where a pitcher allowed a run.
Intermission
Bringing this full-circle, guess what song was #1 on May 28, 2000, when we took in our Clemens/Pedro game. Nope. But close.
Steeling Home
Whichever Pennsylvania team you follow, it was a fascinating week in the "hit or miss" department. The Pirates rallied to tie Wednesday's game in the 9th on Jose Osuna's two-run, bases-loaded single off the Braves' Jose Ramirez (who had loaded said bases on two singles and a walk). After a scoreless B9 it was off to extras again.
Pittsburgh wasted no time, exploding for a seven-run 10th off Josh Collmenter that included the first-ever back-to-back-to-back extra-inning homers in team history. Only once before had the Pirates ever clobbered three extra-inning homers in the same game, and those were in different innings: On July 15, 1971, they traded runs with the Padres in both the 13th (Willie Stargell) and 16th (Richie Hebner) before Roberto Clemente finally walked off in B17.
After a three-run homer in the 2nd, Adam Frazier walked four times, including intentionally in the seven-run 10th, and thus became another notable line in the Pirates' 12-5 win. The last leadoff batter for any team with a home run and four walks was Rickey Henderson for Oakland on June 26, 1993. And the last for the Pirates was only Barry Bonds, who did it as a rookie on August 30, 1986, in a 13-3 Pittsburgh win in Houston.
The Pirates would go on to host the Mets over the weekend; Saturday's game ended when John Jaso hit a bases-loaded single to drive home David Freese in the bottom of the 10th. That was an inning after Jaso also singled to drive in Gift Ngoepe from third with the tying run off Mets reliever Addison Reed. Jaso thus became the first Pirate with a tying hit (any value) in the 9th, and a walkoff hit in extra innings, since Al Oliver on May 1, 1977. Oliver homered off the Astros' Ken Forsch to lead off the 9th, and then singled home Omar Moreno with the game-winner in the 10th.
Keystone Light
Meanwhile, over in the southeast corner of the state, the Phillies managed to put together the following six hit totals beginning last Sunday: 3-3-8-3-8-3. They scored no more than two runs in any of those games, and lost all but one of them (more on that in a second). Although we don't have easy access to full linescores before about 1909, it was the first time in the live-ball era (and probably much longer) that the Phillies managed three hits or fewer four times in a six-day span. In fact, it shattered their "record" for such a thing; the only comparable stretch of hitting futility was a 10-day span from June 19 to 28, 1966 (and they won one of those three-hit games).
In between, though, it was sometimes sunny in Philadelphia; Thursday's eight-hit game and then Saturday's seven-hit game were both won on walkoff singles by Tommy Joseph. The last Phillie to have two walkoff anythings in a three-day span was the great Rico Brogna, who singled and then hit a sacrifice fly against the Marlins on July 24 and 26, 1998.
Odubel Herrera found the "miss" column on Thursday, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts (the "platinum sombrero") despite Philadelphia's walkoff win over the Rockies. It was the first 5-K game in the majors this season; the Phillies also had the last one (by Roman Quinn, September 24, although he went 1-for-6 with a single). Only five Phillies in the live-ball era have done the traditional sombrero of 0-for-5 with 5 K's, and four of them did it in a victory! Pat Burrell (September 16, 2008, at Atlanta) was the last; Larry Hisle did it in 1970, Dick Allen in 1964, and Scott Rolen in a loss to San Diego on August 23, 1999.
California Love (/Hate)
The Cubs also got into both themes this week, starting on Tuesday when Jon Lester threw a four-hit CG against the Giants. The lone run scored on a Brandon Crawford double in the 5th, and Lester struck out 10 but walked zero. That made him the first Cubs pitcher to throw a walk-free CG against San Francisco since Dennis Eckersley did it at Candlestick Park on July 8, 1986. (He won by the same score, 4-1.) Johnny Cueto allowed three homers, becoming the first Giants pitcher to do that at Wrigley since Mark Gardner on April 20, 1996. And at 2:05, Tuesday's game ranks as the shortest one of the season by a full 8 minutes.
The next day the Cubs gave up runs to San Francisco in the 2nd and 3rd, but got them back in the 2nd and 4th, both on solo homers by Anthony Rizzo. There's not much drama involved in a "game-tying homer" in the 2nd inning, but still, Rizzo became the first Cub to hit two tying solo shots in the same game-- in any inning-- since Ron Santo on June 27, 1973. Santo's were a bit more dramatic, coming in the 9th and 13th innings before Chicago eventually lost to Montréal in 18.
The Cubs ended the week at Chavez Ravine, however, and the hit parade was abruptly shut down. Alex Wood and two relievers shut them down on two hits Friday, their first "0-2-X" line at Dodger Stadium since August 8, 1969. That was a game which the Cubs even protested when the umpires awarded Willie Crawford home plate on an overthrow by the second baseman, saying he was running with the pitch and had already crossed second base before the wild throw. (The protest was denied, with NL President Warren Giles saying it did not affect the outcome of the 5-0 game. More in this snippet of a book; scroll down for a page or two.)
On Saturday it was zero runs on three hits for the Cubbies in Los Angeles, their first time pulling that off in back-to-back games since losing 5-0 and 1-0 in Atlanta on April 27-28, 1992.
Balks Make Everything Funner
The Padres must have read our last post while killing time during their series in New York this week. (There are literally thousands of better ways to kill time in New York. We know.) On Wednesday they decided to sumbit a late entry when starter Jarred Cosart and reliever Jose Torres both committed balks in San Diego's 6-5 win. It was the first time two different Padres had balked in the same game since Andy Benes and Calvin Schiraldi did so in Cincinnati on April 17, 1990.
Bottom Of The Bag
⋅ Dallas Keuchel, Saturday: Third pitcher in Astros history to start a season 8-0. Roger Clemens won his first nine decisions in 2004 and Juan Agosto set the mark with a 10-0 start in 1988.
⋅ Mike Montgomery (CHC) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD), Thursday: First pitchers to earn 4-inning saves on same day since Esteban Yan (DET) aand Kevin Gregg (ANA) on April 23, 2004.
⋅ Mariners, Thursday: First-ever win at Nationals Park (2008), leaving the Athletics as the only team without one. Seattle's previous win in "the other Washington" was by the Pilots on August 9, 1969.
⋅ Royals, Wednesday: First time being shut out in the Bronx since a 1-0 game on April 5, 2001. That also made them the last American League team to be shut out at the new Yankee Stadium.
⋅ Amir Garrett, Tuesday: First Reds pitcher to allow four home runs in a game since Bronson Arroyo did it two days earlier. Last time two Reds did it in three days was September 6 & 8, 2004, by Aaron Harang and Jose Acevedo.
⋅ Charlie Blackmon, Tuesday: Eighth career multi-homer game. Three of those have been at Citizens Bank Park. Only two have been at his home stadium, Coors Field.
⋅ Dinelson Lamet, Thursday: First Padres pitcher to strike out 8+ in his MLB debut since Bob Shirley at Cincinnati, April 10, 1977.
⋅ Mitch Moreland & Josh Rutledge, Wednesday: Each had a pinch hit that drove in a run. Last pair of Red Sox to do that: Mike Lowell and Alex Cora at Atlanta, June 18, 2006.
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