June 17, 2010

Not quite a Baker’s dozen for Scott

Some random notes on Scott Baker racking up a career-high 12 strikeouts over seven shutout innings against the Rockies last night ...

• Bert Blyleven had 12 or more strikeouts 22 times, including 15 for the Twins. Johan Santana had 14 such games for the Twins and Camilo Pascual had 10. No one else in team history has as many as five.

• Baker joined Santana, Blyleven, Pascual, Eric Milton, Jim Kaat, Joe Decker, Jim Merritt, and Francisco Liriano as the only pitchers in Twins history with seven or more shutout innings and 12 or more strikeouts. Santana did it six times, while Blyleven and Pascual did it twice apiece.

• Baker also joined Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Jake Peavy, Pete Harnisch, and Hideo Nomo as the only pitchers to throw seven or more shutout innings with 12 or more strikeouts against the Rockies. Martinez is the only pitcher to do so versus the Rockies at Coors Field.

Note: If you're a nerd like me and enjoy looking up stuff like that, I highly recommend purchasing the "Play Index" at Baseball-Reference.com. It'll be the best and dorkiest money you've ever spent.

10 Comments »

  1. Well if it is the best and the dorkiest money I ever spent then HELL yes sign me up!

    Comment by Michele Morgan — June 16, 2010 @ 11:23 pm

  2. You could buy the B/R Play Index… or maintain an SQL database and save a few dozen bucks. Either way, a great investment of time and/or money.

    Comment by Andrew Kneeland — June 16, 2010 @ 11:32 pm

  3. The Rockies hitters sure do like to swing their bats.

    Comment by Dave T — June 17, 2010 @ 10:01 am

  4. Does Brandon Harris have an option to be sent back down to AAA?

    Comment by chris — June 17, 2010 @ 10:20 am

  5. I got one of those Bert Blyleven cards at Wendy’s last night. In 1973, Blyleven pitched 325 innings and made 40 starts! He only won 20 games (losing 17) with an E.R.A. of 2.52.

    Comment by Dan — June 17, 2010 @ 1:02 pm

  6. I signed up about a month ago. It’s absolutely fantastic.

    Comment by Down with Goldy — June 17, 2010 @ 2:50 pm

  7. I find it even more amazing that all but one of his K’s came swinging. Usually when this happens it is aided by an overly generous strike zone by the home plate ump.

    Comment by James M. — June 17, 2010 @ 7:00 pm

  8. Did Gardy actually expect to win that game today against the best pitcher in the NL (so far) with that pathetic lineup?

    Comment by Pat — June 17, 2010 @ 9:46 pm

  9. Joe Decker may have been the hardest thrower the Twins ever had. I’m dating myself, but it’d be fun to know if that’s true or not. Story idea?

    Comment by Steve G. — June 17, 2010 @ 10:40 pm

  10. I’m sad about Jeff Dubay’s troubles. I hope he gets a handle on his addiction. I really enjoyed him paired with PA, he was kinda the fan boy leavened with a little realism and a few statistics. Always rooting, but not afraid to see the truth. Hopefully he will be able to find sobriety soon.

    Comment by Josh — June 19, 2010 @ 2:33 am

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