July 23rd, 2002
October 13th, 2007 by ubelmann
On July 23rd, 2002, Johan Santana gave up 8 ER in 3.2 innings as the Twins lost 8-7 to the White Sox. Santana has started 157 games since that day, and he has allowed fewer than 8 runs (earned or otherwise) in all of those games.
C.C. Sabathia's still a great pitcher, but that's kind of the point. Over the last two seasons, he's now given up 8 or more runs in a start three times, which of course, is three more times than Santana has.
This entry was posted by ubelmann on Saturday, October 13th, 2007 at 2:00 am and is filed under Guest Writers, MLB, Minnesota Twins, ubelmann. It is one of 640 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.
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SBG replied on October 13, 2007 at 6:58:02 am
When I woke up this morning, I was thinking, yep, we starting rooting for Captain Cheeseburger and look what happens.
Scot replied on October 13, 2007 at 7:05:51 am
A couple of things:
1. I would think that Gardy is less likely than just about any manager in baseball to leave a starter in long enough to allow 8 earned runs. I may be wrong.
2. The Twins have had a better bullpen than the Indians over that same time period, so that may be a factor as well.
Rhubarb_Runner replied on October 13, 2007 at 7:58:08 am
I'm thinking that the Sox organization hired a former cameraman from another of Boston's professional sports teams, and had him sit out in centerfield.
ubelmann replied on October 13, 2007 at 1:34:04 pm
When C.C.'s allowed 8 or more runs, he's pitched fewer than five innings, and we know about Santana's 5+ IP streak, so it's not like Santana is getting an especially quick hook that prevents him from having 8+ runs given up in a start.
Scot replied on October 13, 2007 at 3:16:12 pm
I watched most of the first several innings of the game last night, and before I looked at the box score I could have sworn that Wedge left Sabathia in longer than five innings. I guess playoff games just move at a different pace.
You're right though, Sabathia is more likely to implode than Santana, and it doesn't look as though managing has anything to do with it.
And still the Twins strategy is to bunt a lot when Sabathia is on the mound.
socaltwinsfan replied on October 13, 2007 at 6:46:26 pm
Bunting on a pitcher that is big, fat and slow and is known to be pissed off by such things and lose focus and possibly have a meltdown on the mound because of it is not such a bad idea. You have to be smart about picking your spots, though.