THURSDAY TREATS
FROM THE BILL CHUCK FILES
SOMETHING TO LISTEN TO WHILE READING BILLY-BALL TODAY
The Phils have a new leader atop their scoreless inning streak scoreboard*: Cristopher Sánchez. His scoreless innings streak has hit 44.2 IP and is still going. The previous mark, held by Hall of Famer Grover Alexander (41.2 innings), was set in 1911. For perspective, that’s a year before Fenway Park opened. In five starts in May, Sánchez pitched 39 scoreless innings, striking out 45 along the way. This season, Sanchez is 6-2 in 12 starts with a 1.47 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, with 95 strikeouts in 79.1 innings. *Just to let you know, I don’t think that teams actually have scoreboards of this nature, but I think it would be cool if they did.
The Dodgers flirted with a combino last night. I might remind you that a “combino” is a no-hitter thrown by more than one pitcher. Shohei Ohtani tossed six hitless innings, then Will Klein allowed no hits in the 7th, but with two down in the 8th, Tanner Scott allowed a base hit to the Rockies’ Tyler Freeman. It would be their only hit of the game. Beyond that, Ohtani supported his own cause by leading off the game with a homer. It was the 28th career leadoff home run of his career. Shohei became the first Dodgers pitcher to record six hitless innings and homer in the same game since Don Drysdale on June 25, 1959. Shohei struggled more with his command than he did with Colorado walking four and hitting a batter. He threw 99 pitches (56 for strikes) in his six innings of work. Colorado scored their run off Ohtani without the benefit of a hit.
Ohtani’s starts this season:
6 IP, 1 ER, 7 K vs. COL (0 hits)
5 IP, 0 ER, 4 K vs SD
7 IP, 0 ER, 8 K vs SF
7 IP, 2 ER, 8 K vs HOU
6 IP, 1 ER, 9 K vs MIA
6 IP, 0 ER, 7 K vs SF
6 IP, 1 ER, 10 K vs NYM
6 IP, 0 ER, 2 K vs TOR
6 IP, 0 ER, 6 K vs CLE
The Dodgers won 4-1 and swept the Rox. Kyle Hurt pitched the 9th to earn his first major league save. Ohtani has given up one or no earned runs in eight of his nine starts and has not allowed more than two in any start. This season’s all-star outfielder Andy Pages hit a solo homer.
Very briefly, in 1998, the world’s greatest late-night show, “The Late Show with David Letterman,” had a bit in which the great singer Lou Rawls would just sit in the green room casually reading a magazine, lounging, eating a snack, or simply doing nothing. Periodically, as the camera would cut to Lou, Dave would casually say, “It’s better to have Lou Rawls and not need him than to need Lou Rawls and not have him.” I thought of this because on Monday, the Dodgers added Kiké Hernández to their roster, joining their left fielder, Teoscar Hernández, and their infrequently used reliever, Jonathan Hernández. On Tuesday, Kiké went on the IL for an extended time after an MRI showed a “significant tear” in his left oblique. Last night, Teoscar Hernández tried to beat out a grounder to shortstop and suffered a left hamstring strain and is headed to the injured list. Which leaves just Jonathan on the active roster. It’s better to have a Hernandez and not need him than to need a Hernandez and not have him. And, in a nutshell, that’s how my mind works.
