Fewest wins in 2007 when scoring 3 runs or fewer (uh-oh, Phillies and Yankees)
Posted by Andy on August 15, 2007
Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News pointed out in his column today that the Phillies yesterday won for just the second time all year when scoring 3 runs or fewer. Turns out this is an easy search on the PI Team Batting Game Finder (set years to 2007, runs scored to =< 3, and reverse the sorting.)
Tm Year Games Link to Individual Games +---+----+-----+-------------------------+ PHI 2007 2 Ind. Games FLA 2007 3 Ind. Games NYY 2007 3 Ind. Games TBD 2007 3 Ind. Games COL 2007 6 Ind. Games TEX 2007 6 Ind. Games ATL 2007 7 Ind. Games CIN 2007 8 Ind. Games DET 2007 8 Ind. Games KCR 2007 8 Ind. Games SFG 2007 8 Ind. Games CHW 2007 9 Ind. Games CLE 2007 9 Ind. Games HOU 2007 9 Ind. Games STL 2007 9 Ind. Games CHC 2007 10 Ind. Games LAA 2007 10 Ind. Games LAD 2007 10 Ind. Games PIT 2007 10 Ind. Games BAL 2007 11 Ind. Games BOS 2007 11 Ind. Games MIL 2007 11 Ind. Games WSN 2007 11 Ind. Games MIN 2007 12 Ind. Games OAK 2007 12 Ind. Games SEA 2007 12 Ind. Games NYM 2007 13 Ind. Games TOR 2007 14 Ind. Games ARI 2007 16 Ind. Games SDP 2007 19 Ind. Games
I think this list is actually a very bad sign for playoff hopeful teams like Philly, the Yankees, the Rockies, and the Braves. In the playoffs, when teams regularly face the very best pitching around, it is difficult to win games by scoring a ton of runs, as both the Yankees and Phillies have been doing lately. If a team can't win low-scoring games, it isn't going to do well in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, some of the other playoff hopefuls like San Diego, Arizona, and the Mets might do quite well in the post-season if they can keep winning low-scoring games.