Pitchers’ duels a-plenty
by Matthew NameeJune 09, 2004
As I write this, it's 1 AM, meaning I should be asleep. Of course I'm not -- I'm up looking at box scores. And we had some good ones Tuesday.
20-year-old Royals phenom Zack Grienke had the best game of his young career, pitching seven 3-hit, shutout innings against Montreal to win his first MLB game. He struck out 5 and didn't walk a single batter, and now sports a 1.73 ERA and just 4 walks in 26 innings. Bret Saberhagen II? Looks like it so far.
In other news, Pedro Martinez had his best game of 2004 (8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO), leading the Red Sox to a 1-0 win over San Diego. Fellow legend Roger Clemens won a 1-0 affair of his own against the Mariners, pitching 6.2 shutout innings. He struck out 7, but (strangely) walked 5. No matter; his record now stands at 9-0, and his ERA is a league-best 2.08.
There were a bunch of pitchers' duels Tuesday, actually. The Yankees and Javier Vazquez beat Colorado 2-1; Minnesota beat the Mets 2-1 despite a nice game by New York's Tom Glavine (8 IP, 5 H, 1 R -- he now has a 2.21 ERA). And as I type this, the Brewers are batting in the top of the 15th in Anaheim, and neither team has scored a run. In that game, Ben Sheets pitched 9 shutout innings (allowing just 1 hit) and was rewarded with a no-decision, while the Angels' Kelvim Escobar threw 8 scoreless frames (with 4 hits and 11 strikeouts).
Matthew Namee cofounded The Hardball Times in 2004, when he was working as the assistant to baseball author and Red Sox executive Bill James. Matthew still lives in Kansas, where he is currently pursuing a law degree. He can be reached at mfnamee [at] gmail [dot] com.