St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia tossed a three-hit shutout on Sunday. How often has it happened in the last 90 years?
By all accounts, Sunday was a big day for St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia. The rookie tossed his first complete-game shutout as a major leaguer while giving his slumping teammates a much-needed lift.
Prior to Sunday, Garcia had never pitched more than seven innings in the majors, but held the playoff-contending visitors from San Francisco to just three hits and no walks over a full nine innings.
Due to a pair of double plays, Garcia faced just 28 batters, one over the minimum and did it on an economical 89 pitches, of which 65 were strikes. His pitch count was the lowest in a complete game by a Cardinals pitcher since Bob Tewksbury’s 86-pitch outing on May 30, 1992.
Garcia became the first left-handed rookie to pitch a shutout for the Cardinals since Bud Smith’s no-hitter in 2001. Smith’s game is also the most recent no-hitter thrown by any Cardinal. With his 12th career win on Sunday, Garcia has already surpassed Smith’s total of just seven big-league victories.
Researcher Tom Orf determined that Garcia’s Sunday gem is the 240th Cardinals complete-game shutout of three hits or less since 1920. It is the club’s third this season, as Adam Wainwright owns the other two. Interestingly, despite all his past success, Chris Carpenter has logged only four such games in his distinguished Cardinals career.
From a historical perspective, not surprisingly Bob Gibson leads the way with 18 of these games. I was a bit surprised though that he logged just two of them in his 1968 signature season. Gibson’s best season in this category was four games in 1965.
Tied for third with Bob Forsch at ten career shutouts with three or fewer hits is another familiar name, Ernie Broglio. When people cite the Lou Brock trade as having been incredibly one-sided, they often overlook the fact that Broglio had been a very good pitcher up to that point. As such, the deal was unpopular when announced. Historians continue to wonder if Ernie was damaged goods by the time of the trade, however, as he was unable to continue his past success after joining the Cubs.
Cardinals complete game shutouts, three or fewer hits, 1920-current, career totals
| Bob Gibson | 18 |
| Mort Cooper | 12 |
| Bob Forsch | 10 |
| Ernie Broglio | 10 |
| Jesse Haines | 8 |
Perhaps in an indication of the increased focus on pitch counts and relief specialization, only 21 of these games have been logged in the almost 15 seasons since Tony La Russa took over as manager prior to the 1996 season.
In all fairness, even before La Russa arrived, it had been a long dry spell for the team and their starting pitchers specifically. The team had just one shutout of three of fewer hits during the entire seven-year span of 1991-1997. Here is the full list for the last two decades.
Cardinals complete game shutouts, three or fewer hits, 1991-current
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The most amazing thing to me about Jaime’s feat is that he did it with only 89 pitches. If that stat was available I wonder how Jaime would compare?
As noted above, it is the most economical since 1992. Couldn’t go back all the way to 1920 as pitch counts have not always been kept.
You may have caught that Tewksbury’s 86-pitch game in 1992 is not in the table above. That is because he allowed one run in that game. The most recent lowest pitch count in a shutout of three hits or less was also logged by Tewks. He tossed a one-hit shutout at Houston on August 17, 1990 on an amazing 76 pitches. Despite the Cards scoring five runs, the game was over in just 1:59.
Do you know when pitch count became a stat that was recorded?
In item #10 of this article, Derrick Goold looked into the lowest pitch count games and other than one where there has to be a mistake, the 8/17/90 one by Tewks is tied with earlier games by Tudor and Gibson for the lowest where pitch counts were kept.
To answer post #3, it looks like most games from about 1988 and all games since 1999.
* A significant stat in yesterday’s gem (and chief reason for only 28 batters faced) is the big, fat “0″ under the “BB” column! The only time that ever happened in the past 10 games was when Jaime gave up 10 hits (in 5 innings) to Houston on August 3rd.
* He has gone to 7 innings only twice and has gone to at least 6 innings only 5 times in his past 10 starts. Although he is a groundout contact pitcher, he has also been averaging nearly one strikeout per inning. Indeed, when he is “on”, he is striking them out, when he ain’t causing them to groundout.
* Because of Lohse’s surgery and Penny’s injury, he is now solidly our 3rd Starter …and to think that, during Spring Training, Jaime had earned the 5th Starter role! The buttons on Duncan’s shirt must be popping and the fraternal bond with Adam and Chris has surely deepened. Jaime Garcia has arrived!
Seems like a bit of a chicken and egg – low/no walks and low pitch count – with both great to see…
It appears the Cardinal PR machine has picked up Feliz………….lets hope Lohse gets his thumb out and has some success…………… let us all hoe that singles and doubles rule……..as apposed to the almost Hr’s with all their “just missed” relatives……………………
likely see Skip leading off today….Jay…..Albert …Matt………????????? Pitcher hits ninth I would hope.
Its impossible to guess how Tony might begin to establish an infield rotation……..but he will try to stabilize it………. does he risk Lohse with the rookie behind the plate?????
Schumaker 2b
Jay cf
Pujols 1b
Holliday lf
Lopez ss
Molina c
Feliz 3b
Craig rf
Lohse p
This is the heavy hitting lineup…………………… a whole bunch of pressure lands on Lopez………lets hope he is jacked.
Brendan is a better ss. Makes more sense to me to platoon Lopez and Skip at second. But I’m not the manager.
Nice balanced lineup, I like it. Doesn’t hurt to let Brendan know he’s not a fixture. Good luck Kyle.
Bullpen didn’t get any work yesterday so today should be a busy one for them.
The only thing that needs to be done now is to flip-flop Albert and Matt…
After Jaime has shown Lohse the manner in which more is done for less, Lohse’s performance tonight will depend upon how much public disgrace that his rich ego is willing to sustain. It is clear that Cardinal fans are fiercely loyal to winners and that our starting rotation does not support a culture of mediocrity. I therefore suspect that he will give us at least six innings and allow no more than 3 runs…
IIRC, In his good start in Reno it took an inning or two to get settled in so the same may happen tonight. Lets hope our new look offense does not make this 1-10 chump look like Nolan Ryan. I am very interested to see if Jay steels ahead of Albert again.
Here’s expecting that our small ballers will continue their assault and here’s hoping that Jon steals at least two tonight!
When you have opportunity, check out El Maquino’s cool graph showing the “Most Famous Cardinal”:
http://elmaquino.wordpress.com/
We will win these 3 games in Pittsburgh………..they are hopelessly pitiful. And I predict the cardinals score 8 runs are better in each of these next three games. Easy money..
Who didn’t expect Jon to hit a single? Now, with runners on the corners (and a base-stealing threat on first), we’ve got El Maquino at bat!
There’s a little cushion for Lohse………………killed that one….
That’s what’s known as the small ballers setting the table and the Big Bopper doin’ what he does best! Everything done “by the book”!
Matt has great incentive for a 5 for 5 day…
Suddenly, the world is no longer on Flip’s shoulders…
A 7-pitch AB is always aggravating for a pitcher! Attaboy, Flip!
just a single here Yadi………………no oppd! DP
my 8 run prediction may have been way too conservative..
We’ll accept a walk or even an opposite field fly out… Just don’t give us any of that damned GIDP business!
I expected that our small ballers would continue their assault, but I did not anticipate such support from our Boppers…
Attaboy, Yadier! Let’s keep pilin’ them on!
We’re off to a great start and Lohse has all the support (and inspiration) that he needs…
Yadi rolled over and got away with it………..Feliz had god contact………Craig .dreaming
The bottom of our order shure killed that rally. (hafta complain about something)
Hopefully Lohse will get better as he goes.
14 pitches, 2 fly outs and 1 groundout…
Let’s see if we can go through our entire order again!
That looks exactly like Reno BB……………..He is covering all of Dave’s mechanical……”Good boy” points. He is staling out in his delivery, trying to be to precise………….. very hittable right now.
That swing by Albert was a DP waiting to happen………… Holiday is pulling off quite a bit now. If he just takes that pitch deeper, he takes a shot at RT-center
The only fault with the ABs of Matt and Jon this inning was that they failed to hit ‘em where they ain’t… King Albert’s K was highly forgiveable…
WC this team isn’t gonna hit much of anything.
Thats what I figured Westy. He knows what Dave needs to see if he is going to stay in the rotation. Should start to get more fluid as he goes.
Doumit’s double was the result of an 8-pitch AB (the first AB was 7 pitches): Lohse is pitching an awful lot of balls, in addition to hittable (fouled-off) strikes… His pitches are not uniformly low, either (as though he has control issues)…
23 pitches, 2 groundouts and 1 K (not bad, considering…)
Pitcher on deck and he goes after him……………that was a positive……….. showing a little emotion now…………………the reason……………he knew he could walk that guy…….so he used the breaking pitch which resolved out of the strike zone a bit…………………he fooled somebody and kind of liked it. Hopefully we score more…………
Lohse often throws anything though RC………..his temp is increasing a bit.
There is an interesting chart in this article comparing first basemen’s production going into their first arb eligable year. I couldn’t copy and past so here is the link to the article it is in.
We are starting to let down………….that isn’t good…………….we have a problem with this coasting crap………… very little rest for the pitcher in that half inning.
Lohse is around the plate 57. Just missing some, not getting some close calls. Not wild. For some reason he doesn’t look all that impressive IMO. Maybe his arm is not very live. Not sure how to describe it.
Sorry, here is the link
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/08/joey-vottos-2011-salary.html
Lohse is doing something right, I just can’t tell what.
11 pitches 2 fly outs and a K – nothing to complain about
Just “watching” his stuff on this GameCast, blingboy, I’m getting the same foggy underwhelmed impression…
I agree BB………….it a funny game…………the air is thick with moisture, and he doesn’t have alot of motion…………………..that close shot was a changup the hung
You’re on the gamecast aren’t you 57?
If Allen wants to reach the Mendoza Line, he’s headin’ in the wrong direction…
3 straight groundouts! Gallagher has made quick work of us for the second consecutive inning!
Yep, blingboy, I’m on my “trusty” GameCast…
If Kyle can cruise through this inning we have the meat of our order up next, so maybe he will get a liitle breather.
I thought that was Nolan mowing us down, 57. Thanks for snapping me out of it.
With 63 pitches after 4 innings, Lohse ain’t goin’ for a CG, but he is pitching a decent 3 hit shut-out
The best pitch was that aborted change up in the dirt………………he needs to show the ball a little more………..headed no where…………..
Well, at least Jon got the ball deep into the outfield…
Was that ground-rule double right square on the line, as my GameCast is indicating?
All it takes, Matt, is a single… Right on!
I am often surprised that Albert gets in there safe so often, considering his less than blazing speed. He really had no business scoring on that. Nice slide away from the ball.
After mowing us down for two straight innings, you’re right, blingboy… Our big guys have made him to appear like he’s falling apart at the seams…
AP best swing a a long time………… a quality solution to that pitch away……….took it deep and drove it…………….. the pitch around Lopez to get to Molina and Park for the DP………lets see if their coach is that smart.
I had a really nasty flashback to 2004, a year that will live in infamy, when I saw the Botox claimed Damon and a deal may happen. Gad. Hopefully they don’t end up facing us again.
Chan Ho Park! ha ha ha ha ha. Doughnut playing the outfield. I just love these guys.
Park ain’t that great against righties (.258) and Yadier hits his best against righties (.283)
Not on the line, a few feet away but tailing. Kind of a high arc, not a blast.
What’d I say?
Yadier just joined our 2 Boppers in today’s multi-hit club…
Like Westy said, it was a nice solution to that pitch. Didn’t mean to make it sound cheap.
Talking about Alberts 2B
Talk about “cheap”: What an ego boost that Major League intentonal walk must be to Allen Craig!
I have a whole new respect for Mo’s dumpster diving skill. The pirates must have had a backhoe to unearth Park.
Talk about defeated one’s purpose: That WP, after the intentional, was a piece of work!
According to that graphic, blingboy, Votto stands to get at least 7 MM
It will be interesting to see what the Reds do with Votto. He could get real expensive in another year or so. Try to lock him up? What if he wins the triple crown, leads the team into the postseason? Will any of that draw at the gate? All very interesting.
Lohse is now fully loose…………a little tired even………one more max………….. he challenged the hitters that time……..that’s big……
Lohse has a nice line so far, wonder how many pitches he will go. (Reno probably had a comparable lineup)
At 80+ pitches after 5, I doubt that Lohse will exceed 7 innings…
Albert must be real serious about raising his average…
Albert’s single was a pitch up in the zone, like his dong in the first. He was popping those up for the longest time, and I’ve noticed him able to stay on top of them the last few weeks. (Must be MM helping him out)
With 2 on base, our Clean Up had an opportunity…
Should see some bench guys pretty soon.
Every time the sorry steroid stuff hits the news, everyone connected gets tainted even more. With Clemens now getting his due, A-Roid’s feat will be diminished that much more and many will no doubt feel that MM needs further punishment.
I was going to write it down…………..but Lohse did it for me……………..when he starts hopping after his release……he’s history.
Long drive high off the wall by Walker, then a Ruthian blast cleared the seats and out onto the sidewalk. Yikes.
Well, Lohse lost his shut-out, but not a quality start (at least, not yet…)
Read the El Maquino page for some insane stuff now being said by Sammy Sosa…
57, Holliday jammed his hand into a chainlink fence after that long foul, shaking it off. Hopefully nothing.
Westy called it, Lohse out of gas. Good to pull him quick.
After 5 1/3 and 97 pitches, Lohse won’t notch a quality start, but he will at least get a “W”…
Dave called it……………Lohse’s body language said it all…………..He knew he would get pulled if he sent the signal…………….that’s not so good. That was a conditional performance……….without the lead he doesn’t last…………..but he he got it……….and did.
Thank you for that significant tidbit, blingboy… Oh, God; I hope it is indeed “nothing”!
Two fly-outs: Mitch is lucky…
Sosa is a character. Is he still white, or did he turn dark again?
So which will it be next time, Lohse or Suppan?
Sosa is full of bluster, bombast and himself…
Every single one of our batters has once again gotten on base at least once!
Allen Craig does great against AAA pitching…
Craig high off the wall like Walker’s. Their fielder had time to get back so Feliz had to wait and see.
Based upon performance, I should think that Duncan will lobby for Lohse in the next available start….
That was a really cheap RBI, but Brendan will take it….
Ryan pool qued it out in front of the plate, pitcher charged in fliped it to catcher who had to reach way out in front of the plate to catch it while Feliz slid in safe to the back of the plate. Nice.
Next play, grounder to third baseman playing in, fielded it clean, had Craig by 10 feet. Why did he go on contact with 1 out and Jay on deck? Bonehead.
Its nice when it works, bonehead when it doesn’t.
Oh, well… At least the game wasn’t on the line…
Lohse will pitch in 5 days………… they will likely look at Suppan as a long man….maybe? He will need some work somewhere…………….
Whatever happened to the fireballing strikeout artist who went by the name of Mitchell Boggs?
Astros up 3-2 on Philly in ninth. I believe that would put us 1 behind in the wild card.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1266641437702
Check this one out.
Q. “Whatever happened to the fireballing strikeout artist who went by the name of Mitchell Boggs?”
A. Dave Duncan
Would put us 1 behind Philly in wild card. San Fran would be tied with us if they beat Cincy.
Oh, Dave Duncan doesn’t mind a lack of strikeouts, as long as he gets ground outs: It’s those fly balls to the outfield that grate on everyone’s nerves… The “fireballing strikeout artist who went by the name of Mitchell Boggs” was striking guys out when he wasn’t inducing them to ground out….
To Hell with vying for the damned Wild Card: I want for the Reds to be buried under us – forever…
Finally! After several leaky appearances, Trevor Miller is looking more like his old self!
I knew you would see the light 57.
Our final AB: Would any of our guys care to pad the cushion?
All blingboy does is press the right buttons and he knows how I get…
Prediction: The Giants will raise Cain with the Reds tonight….
Yadier joined Albert’s 3 hit club…
Pedro is a tough out and seems to get on base, by hook or by crook
Another lost soul saved. Hey 57, I don’t think you were on board yet back when I posted this link. Next time you need a lift, check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4HS2cJHVlg
Pittsburgh must be paradise to Allen Craig…
I can’t believe that our small ballers have arranged for bases to be loaded, with nobody out!
After the game, I’ll check out the link (with my slow dial-up operation)
Is it possible for a 3 run homer to be superfluous after the fact? Perhaps ‘overtaken by events’? At any rate, it was sweet getting off to that fast start. Game-winning RBI at this point.
So far, not too good with bases loaded and no outs, now two outs.
Well, at least Jon knows what to do with loaded bases!
OK, just letting the suspense build I see.
57, Albert got pulled back for pinch hitter and the Pirates fans let out a lusty BOO.
Anderson has no problem hitting AAA pitching…
The Pirates fans regularly cheer for the team thats beating them (go figure…)
With Lopez, Miles and Schumaker out of the game, Allen Craig is going to have to play 2B, unless Anderson does.
Another opportunity for Matt! And what does he do???
Holliday bases loaded two outs, pppffffzzzz, gulurpf, fzzzlll, kpt kpt ptptpt _____________.
Man, Holiday is screwed up at the plate………………
Let’s see how MacDougal fares against AAA hitters…
The Pirate fans were booing because Albert was pinch hit.
The first pitch slung is a ball. The second pitch is damned near a homer!
Warrior went out on a limb and said that we would score as many as 8 runs…
MacDougal settled-in…
This game finished just as the San Francisco game began! May it be a very bad omen for the Reds..
With Waino pitching tomorrow, the Pirates might as well phone it in.
Back in may Wainy beat Maholm 11-4, that’s the good news. The bad, our hitting stars were Mather, Luddy, Colby, Freese, Stav and Greene.
As of now, Albert (.319) has overtaken Polanco (.316) and Prado (.318) and is 4 pts behind Votto (.323)
The Giants apparently think they are playing the Pirates. It is already 4-0 in the 1st inning.
Thank you, for the cheer-up, blingboy: The Mainland Church of the Perfect Wave is almost as hilarious as Firesign Theater’s “Powerhouse Church of the Perceptuous Assumption of the Blinding Light”!
Don’t look now, but… with only 1/3 of the way through the bottom half of the 1st inning, the Giants are bombing the Reds 6 to 0!
It must be that seance we had here where all of the negative vibes generated since the beginning of time were directed toward the Reds.
ESPN2 is showing the Reds game.
Awesome crdswmn, thanks.
Looking ahead, Wednesday we face Karstens who is 2-10. That means he is twice as good as the 1-10 guy we had tonight, so we better be on our toes.
Yadi has got his average up to .261. Holy guacamole. He was around .225 at the break. That means he is now only .102 behind Jay who is at .363 with around 175 ABs I believe. Holy guacamole again.
Why can’t Rolen just go away?
I can’t believe that he hit his THIRD triple of the season! To me it’s damned near a miracle for some of the best hitters to get one or two in any given season. The old guy just keeps on rolen…
And the Giants keep on raisin’ Cain against the Reds…
Torres did an AP imitation.
Edmond is hurt mid at-bat…………………..Volkez doesn’t finish 1………..good news…………..
Nix removed early…………….
By the looks of it………Lohse will pitch Saturday…………..and they likely skip him on the off day, Thursday…….putting Waino in the catbird seat against Cincinnati…………..that’s the way they planned it………………..Lohse could likely be available out of the pen on Wednesday the 1st…….I see no purpose in that with Boggs and Hawksworth stroking.
Sho’ ’nuff! The Giants raised Cain and the Reds lead has been trimmed to 1 1/2…
Now, they send Wood (2.51) against Sanchez (3.47) and for the rubber match, they will go with Bailey (4.52) against Bumgarner (3.30). It’s a cinch that they will lose one of those games and we will enter the weekend only a half game out…
Like I said, the Giants thought they were playing the Pirates.
WC you keep em straight up in here. And remember….you ARE the MAN..
Checking the standings, I’m trying to picture life at 30+ games back. Got me thinking, what is the most games back the Cards have ever been, ever?
bb, I don’t know the answer during the season, but the worst in the standings at the end of the year was 12th place in both 1897 and 1898. They were the worst two in team history in win percentage at .221 and .260 and finished 63 1/2 games out of first place both years.
In recent times, since 1924, the worst team was the 1990 club. They won just 70 games for a .432 win pct. and a 6th place finish in the NL East, 25 games behind… the Pirates. That was the year Whitey quit and Red was interim manager until Torre took over.
The Pirates won the division again in 1991 and 1992. Bonds left before the 1993 season and they haven’t had a winning year since.
Pittsburgh just beat Santana didn’t they? the playoff teams are going to be the biggest bullies. We have superior pitching…….which has been true all year………but that won’t do it. We need the right blend of September call ups to pressure the Rabble into producing. ……….. Holiday is manufacturing, not creating………..Ryan is a squirrel……….Lopez is susceptible to slumps if used too much…………Skip is always used too much……………Craig really shouldn’t even be here………who knows what Colby is going to bring?……….Winn and Miles would like to stay in baseball, so they will show well……………….I’d like to see at least 5 call ups………..probably only two or three show…………..cost of course.
We need to pound the Pirates……all the way out………Washington………Houston…….Chicago…… dominate those teams and attempt to show well against Atlanta, and the front runners…..
The Reds pitching “should” let them down………..but how many of those games will they win in a bloodbath slug out? They appear hungrier than us.
Everybody is on the bench RC……….player coach is the only solution…………….
.He must rest Molina on Thursday………………I sit Pujols too……….maybe Holiday today………..we don’t need hero’s………we need appetites……….
WC, there is NO WAY the Cardinals will call up just two or three players. I have years of history with specifics that refute that. I will post my 2010 predictions on the main site in a few days, though it is complicated by Memphis’ playoff push.
I await your predictions……………….. Greene, Stava, and the closer Salas…………..I’m sure Tony would like a left reliever………doubt it.