39 Responses to “Beckett, Niemann match goose eggs & Game Scores”

1. Dark Leviathan Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 12:38 am

   Amazing that the Rays got out of the bases loaded, none out jam.

2. John Autin Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 1:07 am

   Can't remember when I've seen more warning-track outs.

3. psychump Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 1:28 am

   Love the Junior Spivey batting cleanup in the May 28th 2002 game! I'm sure he helped in the shutout. What about all the Giants - D-Backs games?

4. John Autin Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 1:39 am

   Speaking of D-backs pitchers, how about Daniel Hudson with a CG 5-hitter today for his 10th win? Now 17-6, 2.86 in 31 starts with 'Zona, averaging just under 7 IP per game.

5. Djibouti Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 1:42 am

   16th inning, still scoreless, only 7 total hits

   One thing I've thought about before and this game brings it up again, how many times have teams run out of catchers? I know most teams carry two catchers, so does anyone know off the top of their head of a game when a team used their two catchers and had to use a non-catcher behind the plate? I imagine it would be an extra-inning game, first catcher pulled for a pinch runner, second catcher gets injured or ejected.

   ...and the Red Sox finally scored. I'm thinking this game is over now.

6. Djibouti Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 1:55 am

   Fun fact: unless I miscounted, it looks like the Rays haven't had 16 consecutive scoreless innings this season (the most I found was 14 from Jun 2-3). Then they get 16 in one night.

7. John Autin Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 2:31 am

   On a complete tangent ... I just read the play-by-play for the bottom of the 11th with SD batting against SF, down a run. Brian Wilson walks the first 2, so the next guy tries to sac bunt -- but the catcher gets it and throws to 3rd for one out, and they relay to 2nd for a DP.

   I've never seen or heard of a bunt that wound up retiring both the runners.

   Was it a semi-pop-up, and the runners had to freeze? That's my best guess. Anyone?

8. Pandoval Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 6:03 am

   @7 Sandoval actually threw the ball to first to get the second out. The play ended with a man on second and two outs.

9. Pandoval Says:
   July 18th, 2011 at 6:14 am

   I should add that there was nothing extraordinary about the bunt, except that it was rubbish.

10. rico petrocelli Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 6:21 am

    With this game Reddick has arrived. The catch, the game winning run. Will he replace Drew?

11. Charles Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 7:44 am

    There have been at least two triple plays from bunts.

    The Indians turned a triple play on the White Sox during the third inning of Cleveland's 7-1 victory at Progressive Field on April 3, 2011. With A.J. Pierzynski on first and Carlos Quentin on second, Alexei Ramirez popped up a bunt down the first-base line. Indians first baseman Carlos Santana came in and made a diving catch on the line. Quentin was standing on third and Pierzynski on second. Both were easily out.

    On May 14, 2006, during a game between the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota's Luis Castillo popped up a bunt attempt with two runners on in the bottom of the sixth inning. The ball was caught by Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko for the first out. Konerko then threw to second baseman Tadahito Iguchi covering first to double up Shannon Stewart who was on the move. Iguchi then threw to shortstop Juan Uribe covering second to triple off Nick Punto, also on the move.

12. Pandoval Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 8:15 am

    @7 I just realised, your confusion may have come from the fact that second baseman Emmanuel Burriss was covering first base as Aubrey Huff charged the bunt.

13. A fifteen-run offensive drought « The World's Worst Sports Blog Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 9:00 am

    [...] pitchers’ duel of the highest magnitude. John at Baseball Reference already looked for other games where both starters had game scores of 85 or higher, and neither team had to call on a position player to pitch, but I thought one of the most [...]

14. A fifteen-inning offensive drought « The World's Worst Sports Blog Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 9:02 am

    [...] pitchers’ duel of the highest magnitude. John at Baseball Reference already looked for other games where both starters had game scores of 85 or higher, and neither team had to call on a position player to pitch, but I thought one of the most [...]

15. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 10:28 am

    The 9/24/71 Astros-Padres game, first game of a doubleheader, went 21 innings. Ken Forsch and Clay Kirby pitched 13 and 15 innings, respectively, to reach their high Game Scores. Padres catcher Bob Barton caught all 21 innings. It looked as if the second game would go into extras, too, but the Padres pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth to get the split.

    No PBP for these games, so we can't know whether Barton was allowed to watch the second game from the whirlpool in the trainer's room.

16. Richard Chester Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 10:35 am

    @5

    On 9/10/55 Yankee RF Hank Bauer caught the 10th inning in a game against the White Sox. Berra left the game earlier and back-up C Charlie Silvera was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the ninth. Bauer committed a passed ball which led directly to the Sox to scoring the winning run.

17. John Autin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 10:38 am

    Pandoval, thanks for the clarification on that bunt DP -- I did, indeed, misinterpret the play from the fact that the second baseman caught the relay throw.

18. John Autin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 10:44 am

    @11, Charles -- Thanks for the bunt-triple-play info. Now that you mention it, I remember hearing about the Carlos Santana play back in April. I believe it was the first time Santana ever played 1B in the majors -- in fact, his first defensive chance at 1B other than catching a throw.

    I'm still curious whether there's been a bunt triple play on which the ball was not caught in the air. Researchers?

19. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 11:01 am

    I'm still curious whether there's been a bunt triple play on which the ball was not caught in the air. Researchers?

    You can check this using Retrosheet's triple play descriptions (the document covers triple plays up through 2004). I think the Dodgers turned a triple play against the Rockies on 6/13/98 that fits your criteria, and there may well be others.

20. John Autin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 11:53 am

    @19, Kahuna -- Many thanks! That list included 4 triple plays on bunt ground balls, including the one you mentioned.

    The play-by-play in the first game does not describe the grounder as a bunt; the others do.

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN199806130.shtml
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA199507130.shtml
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX197208130.shtml
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS196309280.shtml

    -- 3 of the 4 teams who turned a triple play, lost the game.
    -- 3 of the 4 games happened on the 13th of the month, but none was a Friday.

    Request for assistance: In the 2nd game listed above, the half-inning after the T.P. is interesting. Seattle trailed by 3 in the bottom of the 9th. They loaded the bases with 1 out, but Rich Amaral flied into a game-ending DP.

    The play-by-play says only, "Double Play: Flyball: RF-1B-C". Which runner do you think was doubled up? The only runner who mattered was the guy at 1B (pinch-runner Gary Thurman). Let's say it was a long drive into the gap, or down the line, and Thurman thought it would fall in, so he was off and running, and then got doubled up when Shawn Green made the catch. That's easy enough to imagine; but the catcher's involvement in making the putout puzzles me. OK, the 1B went out to take the relay; but as that play developed, would a catcher really have enough time, after realizing there would be no play at the plate, to hustle up the line and take the throw at 1B?

    The catcher was a rookie, Sandy Martinez, playing in his 10th career game -- so maybe that was a factor. Or maybe the putout was made at the plate, with the runner from 3B making a boneheaded decision.

    (Oh, and by the way, that game was the last but 2 in David Cone's Blue Jays career.)

21. Doug Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    @20.

    Re: "The play-by-play says only, "Double Play: Flyball: RF-1B-C". Which runner do you think was doubled up?"

    Interesting question. The runner at 3rd was Tino Martinez, not a fast guy. Possibly the 1st baseman could make a short relay of an off-target throw and still get a slow runner at the plate (think Derek Jeter's famous flip to the catcher in the playoff game with the As).

    Another possibility is the fly ball was very deep, so the catcher knew there would be no play at the plate on the lead runner regardless of whether the ball was caught. That would give the catcher time to sprint to first once the ball was caught, since he would then know there would not likely be a play at the plate on the runner then at 2nd. If that was the scenario, interesting then that the assist went to the first baseman - for that to happen, my guess is the throw must have airmailed the cutoff man to get to the first baseman, or the throw went directly to 1st base and ticked off the first baseman's glove and was picked up by the catcher backing up the play.

22. Lawrence Azrin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    @5/ Djibouti Says: "...One thing I've thought about before and this game brings it up again, how many times have teams run out of catchers?..."

    Djibouti, I remember back in 1987 (July 17th, against the A's), Mike Greenwell was the official "emergency" catcher (or maybe he was the only guy on the bench who could be talked into doing it...). Looking at the box score, he shifted from DH to catcher to replace Danny Scheaffer. Predictably, it was a disaster. If someone else wishes to relate the gory details, go ahead.

23. scott Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    @ Rico...we can only hope that Tito wasn't asleep.

24. Charles Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    With Shawn Green on second and Alex Gonzalez on first for
    Toronto in the ninth. Angel Martinez attempted to bunt. Pitcher
    Jeff Nelson let the ball drop in front of him and threw to
    second, where shortstop Luis Sojo tagged out Green, stepped
    on second for a force and threw to first to get Martinez.

    1 pitch triple play

25. John Autin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    @10, Rico: "With this game Reddick has arrived.... Will he replace Drew?"

    Will he hit better than the .243 BA/.300 OBP he's posted in 184 games at AAA? I know he has power, but the other numbers he's put up over the last 2-1/2 years aren't so impressive.

26. Rich Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    @ 25 I assume he's going to say he "found it" this season, but a .386 BABIP certainly isn't something one can keep forever

27. ed almada Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    Does anybody know why the run of the game on the Mets-Astros game that went 24 IPs en 1968, was earned? The bases were loaded intentionally with one out and Bob Aspromonte groundball went through the legs of Al Weiss in what seemed to be a perfect chance for a double play ending, which would have sent the game into the 25th.

28. Charles Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    I found a second newspaper article with this version of the triple play.

    With Shawn Green on second
    and Alex Gonzalez on first, Angel
    Martinez attempted to bunt.
    Pitcher Jeff Nelson let the ball
    drop in front of him and threw to
    second where shortstop Luis Sojo
    tagged out Green. Sojo then threw
    to first to get Martinez, and second
    baseman Joey Cora chased chased down
    Gonzalez for the third out. This one makes more sense based on the number of assists/potouts the 2B and SS had in the game.

    As far as the DP goes. I would guess it was a relay throw from RF to 1B to C to get the runner out from 3rd that tagged up. This is the most realistic based on the fact that bases were loaded and no run scored.

29. John Autin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 4:29 pm

    @27, Ed Almada -- Reasonable question. But there is an official scoring rule -- or at least, a custom that has the force of a rule -- that you cannot assume a double play for purposes of determining earned / unearned runs.

    Since there was 1 out at the time, and I guess the Mets were playing for the DP (not infield in), and the scorer could not assume that a DP would have been turned if the ball had been fielded, therefore, the run was earned.

30. John Autin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    @28, Charles -- Your interpretation of the game-ending DP has the virtue of simplicity. But how could the runner from 3rd manage to get himself thrown out at the plate, when his run meant absolutely nothing?

31. Richard Chester Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    @30

    Perhaps he thought he could easily beat the throw and then stumbled and fell on the way home.

32. Charles Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    @30 It could be he was a little hesitant and didn't take off right away. I don't think the catcher would have left, not with a runner on third. Now if he started and came back, the only reason he might change his mind and run is if Kreuter is heading towards 3rd thinking Martinez left.

33. Joe Garrison Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    The Dodgers lost the game to the Braves in 1976 on a wild pitch and then later in the inning... a passed ball.

    The score was one to nothing, ugh!

34. John Autin Says:
    July 18th, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    @33 -- Good eye there, Joe.

    Don Sutton went 11 shutout innings in that '76 game, matching a career high; it was his last career game of more than 9 IP.

    His opposite number, Frank LaCorte, went 10 scoreless in his 15th career start, after beating the Dodgers on a CG 3-hitter in his previous outing. LaCorte pitched mostly in relief the rest of his 10-year career, and never did get an official shutout.

    But that game against the Dodgers did at least keep LaCorte from having the worst career ERA+ of any modern pitcher with at least 400 IP. LaCorte's 73 ERA+ was 1 point better than Jim Walkup, who labored for the Browns in the '30s and finished with a 6.74 ERA.

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lacorfr01.shtml
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/walkuji02.shtml

35. John Autin Says:
    July 19th, 2011 at 1:17 am

    I'm a little surprised that nobody commented on the cultural change in baseball that's implicit in the 2 tables above vis-a-vis the Beckett-Niemann game.

    Both starters, pitching brilliant shutouts in a nationally televised game, in a developing rivalry, and with no need to be pinch-hit for, were simply taken out after 8 innings and less than 120 pitches. And no one was really surprised.

    I'm not saying it's bad, but it sure is different.

    In the AL's first 15 years of the DH, there was not a single game in which both pitchers departed after at least 8 scoreless innings but less than 9. The first such game under DH rules happened July 26, 1988, when Jack McDowell and Scott Bankhead both left after 8 innings. It didn't happen again for another 10 years. That's once in 25 years.

    In that same span, there were 22 games in which both pitchers went at least 9 scoreless IP. In 9 of those games, both starters went more than 9 IP and finished the game.

    Times have really changed.

36. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    July 19th, 2011 at 4:17 am

    Game #40 on John's first list at top, the June 4, 1969 Dodgers-Mets game, holds a prominent place in the SABR bio of that day's Mets starter, Jack DiLauro:

    "On June 4, DiLauro may have made his greatest contribution to the team and its pennant chances. It was his first start and, according to writer Maury Allen, 'may have been the game that convinced the Mets they were a contending team.'

    [The second-place Mets had just gone over .500 and were about to embark on a four-city road trip.]

    "DiLauro told writer Stanley Cohen, 'Gil [Hodges] told me I’d be starting two or three days in advance but it felt more like a month. I was really nervous, and it took me a couple of innings to settle down.'

    "Both DiLauro and Dodgers starter Bill Singer were on top of their games. DiLauro gave up a double to Bill Russell in the first and a double to Ted Sizemore in the second but he extricated himself with the help of Bud Harrelson’s glove and some effective pitching. During one stretch in the game, DiLauro retired 19 consecutive batters. Unfortunately, the Mets had been unable to put up any runs against Singer and the game remained scoreless when DiLauro was lifted for a pinch hitter in the ninth. The New York Times reported that DiLauro was 'accorded a standing ovation' for his 'variety of curveballs' that stymied the Dodgers. The Mets went on to take the game in the 15th inning [by a score of 1-0], stretching their win streak to a club record-tying seven games. They had won two consecutive series at home and would win the next four on the road. By the time they returned to Shea on June 20 they were in second place, six games behind the Cubs.

    "DiLauro called that game the 'biggest thrill of my career.' He told Cohen, 'I had been pitching in the minors for six years, trying to make it to the big club; and now, after my first start, to get an ovation like that from a New York crowd…it’s a moment I’ll never forget.'"

37. John Autin Says:
    July 19th, 2011 at 11:06 am

    @37, Kahuna -- Nice find!

    And 2 months later (#38 on that list), Tommie Agee's HR in the bottom of the 14th beat Juan Marichal, 1-0. Marichal had 13 Ks and allowed 6 hits and 1 walk in 13.1 IP, for a 104 Game Score. It was the last time a pitcher took a loss with a Game Score of 100+.

    P.S. The Mets were also victors in the previous 100+ game score loss, the famous game when Jim Maloney went 10 no-hit innings with 17 Ks and 1 walk, but lost on a leadoff HR in the top of the 11th by RF Johnny Lewis. Maloney went ahead and finished the inning....

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN196506140.shtml

38. John Autin Says:
    July 19th, 2011 at 11:52 am

    Followup to #37...
    The last loss with a Game Score of 90+ was by Kevin Appier, 1993-7-27 -- a CG with 11 Ks, 1 walk and 1 hit ... a HR by Rafael Palmeiro.

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA199307270.shtml

    Hmmm ... Should we retroactively declare that a no-hitter? 🙂

39. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    July 19th, 2011 at 12:53 pm

    The matching pairs of double-85 games from 5/7/74 got me wondering, has there ever been a date when more than four pitchers put up Game Scores of 85 or higher? There has, and it happened in just the season you'd expect.

    The five individual Game Scores of 85 or higher posted on May 22, 1968: Woodie Fryman, Phil., 89; Jim Nash, Oak., 87; Gary Bell, Bos., 86; Dave Giusti, Hou., 86; Don Drysdale, L.A., 85. Fryman and Nash would later be teammates on the 1972 Phillies, whose #1 starter racked up some pretty decent Game Scores himself.