Ohtani was the first starting pitcher to bat in one of the top four lineup spots at Fenway since Babe Ruth batted fourth against the White Sox on September 20, 1919. Ruth pitched 5.1 innings and finished the game in left field. (That was the last time Ruth pitched for the Red Sox; he would play only five more games in a Boston uniform.)
Ohtani threw a season-high 99 pitches, including 81 strikes. He did not walk anyone. He had a three-ball count only once -- to the 28th and final batter of his start. He threw either no balls or one ball to 24 of his 28 batters. Tossing out the first and last batters he faced, he threw more than one ball to only two of those 26 batters.
From the third inning into the sixth, Ohtani had a 14-batter stretch in which he threw 43 strikes and only six balls. The Red Sox's bats are not putting up much of a fight these days, but that is still impressive.
It was the Angels' second-largest shutout at Fenway. The biggest was an 11-0 win exactly 11 years earlier (May 5, 2011).
The New York Mets, trailing 1-7 in the top of the ninth inning, scored seven runs and beat the Phillies 8-7. They had not erased a six-run deficit in the ninth in nearly a quarter-century (September 13, 1997).
The Mets are also are the second team since at least 1900 to throw a no-hitter (a team effort (Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodriguez, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Díaz) against the Phillies on April 29) and have a comeback win after trailing by 6+ runs in the ninth inning in the same week since the 1990 Phillies. Terry Mulholland pitched a no-hitter on August 15 and the team had a nine-run top of the ninth against the Dodgers on August 21 (and won 12-11).
The Cincinnati Reds wish they were playing as good as the Cleveland Spiders. Despite winning two of its first four games, Cincinnati is 3-22. Since April 11, they are 1-18, including a span of eight consecutive games in which they failed to score more than two runs. The infamous 1899 Spiders had a record of 20-134, .130, the worst "winning" percentage in major league history. At their current pace, the Reds will finish 19-143 (.120) and shatter that mark.
Fewest Wins In Team's First 25 Decisions
The Reds visit Fenway Park on May 31 and June 1.1988 Orioles 2
1882 Orioles 3
1894 Senators 3
2003 Tigers 3
2022 Reds 3
1876 Reds 4
1885 Wolverines 4
1893 Colonels 4
1932 Red Sox 4
1936 Browns 4
1969 Cleveland 4
Press Release
ReplyDelete"The Atlanta Braves respectfully recognize National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day on May 5, 2022.
Tragically, more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime. The murder rate is ten times higher than the national average for women living on reservations and is the third leading cause of death for Native American women."
Calcaterra: "As a show of respect for this very important day the team will only play its whoop-whoop/chop-chop music at half volume during tonight's game against Milwaukee."
Ohtani was also dotting 99 mph fastballs on the corners in the middle innings, several of which he didn't get the call on. The swing-miss numbers could have been even higher with a different umpire, or with robotics for that matter.
ReplyDeleteIn-f'in-credible
Ahhh, the Infamous Spiders !!!!!!
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