Losing 1-0 on an unearned run
Posted by Andy on July 1, 2011
A couple of days ago, the Nationals lost to the Angels by a 1-0 score. In the game, Jordan Zimmermann threw a complete game (only 8 innings in the away loss), allowing just an unearned run i n the 4th inning when Vernon Wells reached on an error that should have eliminated a base runner.
Here are games in 2011 that ended in a 1-0 score (not necessarily complete games like Zimmerman's) where the only run scored was unearned:
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | WP | IR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011-06-29 | WSN | LAA | L 0-1 | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2 | 2011-06-28 | FLA | OAK | L 0-1 | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | 2011-06-25 | CLE | SFG | L 0-1 | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 2011-06-07 | MIN | CLE | L 0-1 | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 2011-05-14 | LAD | ARI | L 0-1 | 9.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 2011-04-09 | MIN | OAK | L 0-1 | 9.0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
The "IR" column here refers to inherited runners and is helpful. When it's blank, as in the case of the Nats game above, it means that there were no relief pitchers, and hence a complete game tossed by the losing starter.
Anyway, notice that the Twins have already lost 2 such games this year, and the Athletics have won 2.
Since 1919, the record for most such losses in a season is 3:
| Rk | Tm | Year | #Matching | W | L | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOU | 1964 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Ind. Games | .000 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25.0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0.60 |
| 2 | CIN | 1984 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Ind. Games | .000 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24.0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0.67 |
| 3 | CHW | 1949 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Ind. Games | .000 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 30.0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 0.97 |
Also, the 6 such games in 2011 matches the total from all of 2010 and is the most in a season since there were 8 in 1992.
Hmmm....1992....
July 1st, 2011 at 7:50 am
I am curious as to what you are hinting at by saying, "Hmmm... 1992."
Is that is what is considered to be one of the last years before the steroid era - and therefore a season with a lot of 1-0 games?
July 1st, 2011 at 8:17 am
This is a topic that brings back memories. In the first start I made in high school, I was the losing pitcher in 1-0 game. The only run scored came on an unearned run that reached base because I threw away the throw to first after a comebacker.
July 1st, 2011 at 8:19 am
Thomas, you got it. Since last season, I've made a number of posts where the feat or trend is the first time since 1992...all little bits of data showing that the high-offense era is trending away or maybe even ending.
July 1st, 2011 at 8:37 am
I think this almost happened in Thursday's Cubs-Giants game but Aramis Ramirez hit a game- tying solo homer in the 9th.
July 1st, 2011 at 9:14 am
One of the 1964 Colt losses was Ken Johnson's no-hitter. Two HOFers (one in, one belongs) were involved in the unearned run...Pete Rose scored in the ninth on Nellie Fox's error.
July 1st, 2011 at 9:15 am
There are lots of little indicators that baseball is entering a lower run-scoring environment and the frequency of 1-0 games is one of them. The questions no one has the answer to is how long will it go on and how far will run scoring fall.
It is hard to adjust one's thinking to value lower offensive production (compared to the recent past) more highly. Good run producers, in today's run-scoring environment, are going to be even more difficult to trade for because of their value.
July 1st, 2011 at 9:29 am
@2...playing American Legion baseball in North Dakota when I was in high school we won a game 1-0, despite being no-hit. Our pitcher allowed only 1 hit. Think we scored our run on some combo of walk,sac,sb,wp...something close to that.
July 1st, 2011 at 9:51 am
The 2nd and 3rd of the Reds' losses in 1984 occurred during back-to-back 2-hitters by Bob Welch and Orel Hershiser on 28-29 July. I'm guessing that losing 1-0 on an unearned run in two consecutive games is pretty rare.
July 1st, 2011 at 9:52 am
The bit about inherited runners is incorrect. In games 4 and 5 of the top list, no starter threw a complete game. Each time, the losing starter was taken out between innings, rather than mid-inning. Thus no inherited runners.
July 1st, 2011 at 10:06 am
@9 - There's a difference between "blank" and "zero"....
July 1st, 2011 at 10:07 am
Never mind. I see you said blank, not zero.
July 1st, 2011 at 10:15 am
The link's to the wrong Jordan Zimmerman, FYI.
July 1st, 2011 at 10:18 am
#12 thanks, fixed that. I always forget that there was another Jordan Zimmerman.
July 1st, 2011 at 10:58 am
Somewhat off subject. Can somebody explain why one of the Chisox runs in the top of the 10th yesterday was unearned. Seems to me they both should be earned.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:07 am
I'm guessing that losing 1-0 on an unearned run in two consecutive games is pretty rare.
Consecutive 1-0, zero-ER losses has happened only that one time since 1919. Consecutive 1-0, zero-ER wins also has happened only once — Pirates over Cardinals 1-0 in the second game of a doubleheader on 6/30/46, and Pirates over Cubs 1-0 on 7/1/46.
Three times since 1919 a team has defeated its opponent 1-0 on an unearned run and then had the same opponent return the favor the following day: Phillies-Giants on 5/26/75 and 5/27/75, Angels-Rangers on 6/22/75 and 6/23/75, and Dodgers-Cardinals on 7/7/86 and 7/8/86.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:14 am
@#14
I am unsure. Both runners would've been in scoring position had it not been for the error anyway since the error was on a sacrifice bunt. This is just judging from the box score but I didn't watch the game. Maybe he attempted to get the forceout at 3rd?
July 1st, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Stan, Beckham scored after reaching on an error. That's an unearned run.
July 1st, 2011 at 12:51 pm
#13 Yeah, the right spelling for the one on the Nationals is with two N's. Zimmermann.
July 1st, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Duh I did not realized that either. I have fixed the spelling.
July 1st, 2011 at 1:05 pm
It was ruled a sacrifice and an error so the result would have been second and third with one out (Beckham). Beckham reached second on a force out at home by Konerko which would not have been a force out absent the error. Oh well. Incidentally can anyone explain the base running on Pierre's single off the top of the scoreboard
July 1st, 2011 at 2:00 pm
I'm guessing that losing 1-0 on an unearned run in two consecutive games is pretty rare.
I made in mistake in #15 above when I said, "Consecutive 1-0, zero-ER losses has happened only that one time since 1919." It has happened twice. Besides the July 1984 Dodgers victories over the Reds, the White Sox beat the Angels 1-0 on May 12 and 13, 1967, on unearned runs.
There were five 1-0, zero-ER games in MLB in 1967, and the White Sox were involved in all of them, winning three and losing two. The White Sox also went 3-2 in such games in 1968. Five decisions is the most any team has had in 1-0, zero-ER games since 1919.
July 1st, 2011 at 3:06 pm
On a slight tangent ...
Checking on this year's 1-0 games yesterday, I found that 6 of 30 were decided on an unearned run, or 20% of the total. By contrast, unearned runs have made up just 8.5% of all runs scored this season.
Now, I've heard it said that close, low-scoring games create more pressure on the fielders and can lead to more errors, so I was thinking about that theory.
But of course, 30 games in half a year is not statistically meaningful. So I ran the 1-0 games for the past 10 years.
Out of 393 1-0 games in 2001-10, the run was unearned 30 times, less than 8%. And since the UER rate was virtually the same in 2001 as this year, those 1-0 games provide no confirmation of the theory, and I've decided to stop thinking about it.
July 1st, 2011 at 3:24 pm
It's no surprise that 2 of those 3 Reds' losses in 1984 went to Mario Soto. I wonder what his record for 1982-1984 would have been with a good team? He's also 0-1 in All-Star Games, even though his ERA is 0.00.
July 1st, 2011 at 3:56 pm
"reached on an error that should have eliminated a base runner."
That's not why it was unearned.
You can't assume a force play. If Abreu had remained at second and had subsequently scored, it would have been an earned run.
The error didn't allow Abreu to be safe at second, it allowed him to go to third.
That is why the run is unearned.
July 1st, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Not to change topic slightly but.....
when you said 1992 my immediate thought was that was the last year the Pirates had a winning record and they may break that streak this year. (not that they are involved in any of the 1-0 games).
July 1st, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Neal: I was at the ballpark for a game where Soto was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 9th before the Reds got their only hit. Chuck Rainey almost got the no-hitter for Chicago.
The Twins, in addition to all their 1-0 wins this season, also have the most 1(0ER)-0 losses this season.
July 1st, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Probably the most famous 1-0 game with the only run being unearned was Sandy Koufax's perfect game on 9/9/65 against the Cubs. Bob Hendley pitched a one-hitter and lost on an unearned run. It's the only game in history with only one hit in the entire game.
July 1st, 2011 at 7:15 pm
One of those 1964 Astros games is Ken Johnson's no-hitter. Lost the game, in part, on his own throwing error.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:00 pm
RIDDLE ME THIS!
Jose Reyes is on pace to set a record this year. Not a team record. Not a compound record (as in first to get 30 triples and 45 SBs and 50 2Bs). A basic record you could find with a simple search in the PI. He is on pace to have the most/greatest/least/fewest of something. Ever. (Well, since 1919).
What is the record and who currently possesses it?
July 1st, 2011 at 11:01 pm
off-topic, but mark ellis almost hit for the cycle tonight in his first game as a rockie, only missing the triple. has anyone ever hit for the cycle in their debut for a team?
July 1st, 2011 at 11:05 pm
John-
You reminded me of something I was thinking about. I looked up that game and saw that the first player to reach base, for either team, was Johnson's walk to lead off the bottom of the 5th. That means the game had 4 1/2 perfect innings. What is the deepest a game has gone and still been "perfect", with both pitchers maintaining perfect? I have no idea how to search for that. Perhaps no one ended up with a perfect game, but did a game get deeper than that? Into the 6th or 7th or 8th or even 9th inning with no one reaching base? Can you find that via PI?
July 1st, 2011 at 11:09 pm
@27 - The Roy Halladay perfect game was also a 1-0 game with the only run being unearned and with no RBI awarded.
Although I knew that the score of the Sandy Koufax perfect game was 1-0, I didn't realize it was also an unearned run. I knew that the one hit that the Cubs starter gave up did not contribute to that one run, but I had forgotten the circumstances. And there was no RBI awarded on that one, either.
This got me to thinking about some yes-no games (a name I have just made up - although it would not surprise me if others have coined this name, since a "no-no" is supposedly a no-runs, no-hits game) in which the team that got no hits scored one run. (Although there have been some yes-nos in which the hitless team scored more, such as the Andy Hawkins game, the original topic here was games in which a team scored only one run.)
I looked at two 7-1 yes-no games - Joe Cowley over the Angels on Sept. 19, 1986, and Darryl Kile over the Mets on Sept. 8, 1993.
In the Cowley game, the run was earned, and there was an RBI on the play. In the Kile game, it was not earned, and there was no RBI awarded.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:13 pm
@29
lowest single-season K%?
July 1st, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Jim-
Good guess, but off the top off my head I found Bonds in '07 with a better K%.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:21 pm
That should say, off the top of my head I was able to remember Bonds putting up absurd K-rates and looked up his '04 season (not '07).
July 1st, 2011 at 11:23 pm
bonds wasnt qualified for the batting title in 07, but then, you didnt make that a criteria... hmm... dimaggio seems to have the best single-season K mark, as he struck out only 13 times in 1941, and reyes already has twice that, so, nevermind that guess....
July 1st, 2011 at 11:25 pm
The Red Sox won game 1 of the 1986 World Series 1-0 on an unearned run. Had they not choked, we'd all be remembering the ball that went through Tim Teufel rather than the one that got through Buckner.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:26 pm
I got curious about two 1-0 Orioles games in Memorial Stadium almost 10 years apart that I attended when I lived in Maryland. In one game, the Orioles lost on a run scored by the Indians to break a scoreless tie in the top of the 9th. In the other game, they won after scoring the game's only run against the Angels in the bottom of the 1st. So, both games had long scoreless innings streaks.
The first was a 1-0 game won by a future Hall-of-Famer in which that one run that made him the winning pitcher that day was unearned, but there was an RBI awarded. The error caused the bases to be loaded, and the run then scored on a bases-loaded walk.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL197409150.shtml
In the second 1-0, the run was also unearned and had no RBI awarded.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL198408180.shtml
The losing pitcher in the latter game was Mike Witt, who pitched a 1-0 perfect game against Texas on the last day of that same season. And just like the Koufax and Halladay perfect games, it was an unearned run. However, there was an RBI awarded. As soon as I saw that Charlie Hough was the pitcher against whom the run was scored, I just knew that there had to be a passed ball involved. And that was indeed the case.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX198409300.shtml
In both the Mike Witt perfect game and the Joe Cowley yes-no, the Angels were the team that scored exactly one run. And in both cases, Reggie Jackson got the RBI.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:30 pm
BSK @29
Most plate appearances in a season, currently held by Jimmy Rollins
July 1st, 2011 at 11:31 pm
BSK/29, is it most multi-hit games in a season? If so, credit due to Duke(?) who mentioned his pace in a thread a couple days ago.
Best single-season K rate is Joe Sewell with 4 in 699 PA in 1925.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Neil-
Reyes is on pace to fall just short of Rollins (though that doesn't include today's game, but it appears he had 5 PA which shouldn't make a different).
Mustachio-bashio got it and props to the guy who put it up before. Listening to WFAN recently they were talking about how it seemed like Reyes had an off-day if he didn't get two hits. So I looked it up and saw he's working on a streak of 6 or 7, which was preceded by an 0-fer, two more multi-hit games, and another 0-fer. So I got to thinking what the record was and what his pace was and he is on pace to break the record.
July 1st, 2011 at 11:40 pm
he's not even on pace to break his own single-season best mark in PAs(765, in 07 and 5th all time), let alone rollins's 778 also in 07. is it total bases for fewer than 10 HRs? he was close to on pace for besting cobb's 363 recently
July 1st, 2011 at 11:41 pm
Sorry, one more. When I posted about those two Orioles 1-0 games I attended, I intended to look up both Mike Witt's perfect game and Gaylord Perry's 1968 no-hitter to see what the scores were. I did look up the Witt game and saw that it was a 1-0 game.
And I just looked up the Perry game, and it was also 1-0. The one run in this game was an earned run that came on a solo home run. The guy who hit that homer was Ron Hunt, and now I remember that I've read about this accomplishment before because Ron Hunt was a lot more likely to be hit by a pitch than to hit a home run. He did not get plunked in this game, even though he hit the homer in his first at-bat of the game. (Kevin Millwood's no-hitter was also a 1-0 game in which the only run was on a solo homer.)
The other famous thing about the Gaylord Perry no-hitter, which was against St. Louis, was that the next day, the Cardinals' Ray Washburn pitched a no-hitter against the Giants! (The score of that one was 2-0, with both runs earned and RBIs award on both. No home runs, though.) The trade-off of no-hitters had never happened before, but that was just one more interesting item from the so-called "Year of the Pitcher". And then it happened again in back-to-back games the next year! (But it hasn't happened since then.)
July 1st, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Jim-
Mustachio got it with most multi-hit games in a single season.
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:01 am
@41
Thanks, BSK, for the question. No shame is losing out to MR and DukeofFlatbush. MR, tip o' ths cap to you for crediting Duke.
@42
Jim, I think Reyes current PA pace would beat his '07 season. 374PA/78 games multiplied by the Mets remaning 83 games is 398. Add that to his current 374 and you total 772. Not good enough to beat Rollins or Dykstra, but more than his 2007 765 PA.
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:12 am
BSK, since my laptop is too wimpy to crunch more than about 20 years at a time in a Game Finder, can you give the answer to the 2nd part of your question -- "who holds it?" (And how many games?) Thanks!
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:42 am
JA! I forgot about that part of the question. The riddle remains alive!
Is that a function of computing power? I had to run the search several times, decade-by-decade (only took about a minute each), but PI seems to have a built in failpoint once the search hits 30+ seconds. Am I understanding that correctly?
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:53 am
@47, BSK -- I guess it's probably the P-I that times out on its own, rather than my old laptop.
I commend you for having the patience to run that search 10 times -- it's more patience than I have. So ... if you're in a revealing mood, I'd love to have that answer! 🙂
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:58 am
When I ran the search a couple days ago, I think it worked by splitting into two pieces, something like 1919-1970 and 1971-2010. Definitely couldn't do it all at once.
Anyway, Al Simmons had 85 in 1925. I think Ichiro was the only guy to reach 80 since the '30s.
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:08 am
Ichiro has the top 5 multi-hit-game seasons of the 20-aughts.
P.S. Anyone else have trouble with Saved Reports? Maybe 1 in 5 of mine just vanish into the ether; it gives me a URL, but when I click on it, I get "Sorry, not found."
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:11 am
Off-topic, but ... In light of Jurrjens's 1-hitter tonight, who can name (without looking it up) the only 2 Atlanta Braves to throw a no-hitter?
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:13 am
Mustachio nailed it. Before I got to that last search, I was going to add an interesting note about how the record was set within the past decade. I figured people would have looked towards some sort of bizarre power numbers or extra base hits, since those were the numbers that went gonzo over the past 10-15 years. But, indeed, Reyes is on pace to eclipse Simmons' 85. He picked up another one tonight, putting him even further ahead of pace (I believe I had him at 86 or 87 before tonight).
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:17 am
Why do I think Kent Mercker pitched a no-hitter? He was mostly a reliever but I have some memory of him doing something special in a start.
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:18 am
Actually Mercker started a lot more games than I remembered.
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:24 am
Yes, Mercker threw a no-hitter in '94. Anyone else? Don't guess GM or TG.
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:28 am
BTW ... how about Jason Vargas joining James Shields and Cliff Lee as the pitchers with 3 (or more) shutouts?
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:31 am
Gotta go to bed. The other Atlanta Braves no-hitter was by Knucksie in '73.
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:52 am
Zowie, Mustachioed, you are on a roll tonight. All the brain cells are on high throttle. 🙂
July 2nd, 2011 at 8:06 am
JA-
When you get a chance, can you look at my post at 31 and let me know if that is searchable via the PI? Basically, I want to know what is the deepest a game has gone where both pitchers had perfect games going. Someone linked to Koufax's perfecto, which was an entirely perfect game through the leadoff batter in the bottom of the 5th. Has any game gone deeper? I can't just search perfect games because it is possible that neither player ended up throwing one even though they both went deep with one.
July 2nd, 2011 at 8:08 am
BSK it's not searchable in the PI. You can only search for what a pitcher or a team did in the final results of a game--for example if Josh Beckett pitched 7 innings allowing 2 hits and 1 walk, that's all you can search for. You can't search to see if the first 5 innings had no walks and no hits.
This question has actually been asked numerous times over the last few years. The answer is still no.
July 2nd, 2011 at 9:31 am
G5 of 1996 World Series, Smoltz lost 1-0 on a dropped fly ball by Grissom.
July 2nd, 2011 at 9:59 am
The National League won the 1968 All-Star Game 1-0, with the only run unearned.
July 2nd, 2011 at 11:31 am
@62 -- Good one, Travis. And I love that Willie Mays batted leadoff in that game. He singled in the 1st, drew a pickoff throw from Tiant that got away, took third on a wild ball 4 to Curt Flood, and scored on McCovey's GDP. (BTW, the box score says no RBI for McCovey; I didn't think that rule was in effect so long ago, but I guess I'm wrong.)
Also, I wish the Play Index covered fielding. On a purely anecdotal basis, it seems to me that a pitcher's error often shows up as the cause of an UER in a 1-0 loss, but there's no obvious reason why that would be true.
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I didn't think that [no-RBI-on-a-DP] rule was in effect so long ago, but I guess I'm wrong.
It was in effect at least as far back as 1959. When the two all-time kings of 1-0, zero-ER wins, the White Sox and Dodgers, played each other in the '59 World Series, the Sox won Game 5 1-0, Bob Shaw over Sandy Koufax. The only run (earned) scored on a fourth-inning GIDP by Sherm Lollar, for which he did not receive a RBI.
July 2nd, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I thought I remembered seeing another no-hitter pitched by Atlanta on TBS one night late in the 1991 season. I went in search of it. And I found it.
Kent Mercker started two games for Atlanta that ended up as no-hit wins by the Braves' pitching staff. The second was his complete game no-hitter. But he also started a game on Sept. 11, 1991, that, if I recall the announcers' comments correctly, was to feature a combination bullpen pitchers on the mound for short stints.
And it was another 1-0 no-hitter (but with an earned run and an RBI)! Mercker started, went six innings, and got the win. (The only run had been scored by then.) He was followed by Mark Wohlers, who pitched two innings and got a hold. Finally, Alejandro Pena pitched the ninth and got a save.
The only run resulted from a Terry Pendleton solo home run. Another interesting 1-0 category would be one in which the only run was scored on a solo homer.
There have been at least two combined no-hitters in major league history played on a Wednesday the 11th. The other one was the one by Houston against the Yankees on June 11, 2003.
July 2nd, 2011 at 8:10 pm
Another interesting 1-0 category would be one in which the only run was scored on a solo homer.
The Play Index pulls up 694 such games — a bit more than 20% of all 1-0 games.