MLB Update on 2010 Perfect Game and No-Hitter Pitchers

Jun/10

MLB Update on 2010 Perfect Game and No-Hitter Pitchers

The 2010 baseball season has already had two perfect games and a no-hitter plus an imperfect perfect game. This article updates how those pitchers have done since their historic games.

Ubaldo Jimenez (Rockies) – No-hitter on April 17, 2010 – Colorado 4 Atlanta 0

Jimenez was 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA after pitching his no-hitter. He has been 9-0 since the no-hitter and his ERA is an even lower 1.16 two months later.

Dallas Braden (Athletics) – Perfect game on May 9, 2010 – Oakland 4 Tampa Bay 0

Braden has not fared as well as Jimenez since his no-hitter. His record was 4-1 with a 3.33 ERA after his perfect game. He has been 0-5 since then and he has 4 wins and six losses and a 3.95 ERA.

In his last 18 innings encompassing three starts Braden has allowed 13 runs and 28 hits and his ERA in June is 6.00

Roy Halladay – Perfect game on May 29, 2010 – Philadelphia 1 Florida 0

Halladay was 7-3 with a 1.99 ERA after his perfect game. His record since the perfect game is 1-2 and his ERA now stands at 2.36. His season record is now 8-5.

Armando Galarraga – Imperfect game on June 2, 2010 – Detroit 3 Cleveland 0

If there had been instant replay on June 2 Galarraga would have had a perfect game on June 2 but since there wasn’t instant replay we will call his game an imperfect game since the umpire Jim Joyce made a bad call on a bang-bang play at first base and Galarraga lost his perfect game.

The honesty of Joyce to admit not making the right call and the ability of Galarraga to to handle the situation in a very gracious manner kept a bad situation from turning into an even worse situation. If there had been another pitcher and another umpire involved this may not have ended in a handshake the next day. I have a world of respect for Galarraga and Joyce for shaking hands at home plate the next day. It was a shining moment for baseball when Joyce fighting back tears shook hands with Galarraga.

The Galarraga stats afterthe imperfect game were 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA. His won-loss record remains at 2-1 and his ERA is 2.67 after two no-decisions since his imperfect game. Opposing batters are hitting .211 against Galarraga and he has a 0.98 WHIP.

Around the Diamond

The Yankees and Rays remained tied for first place in the AL East as both teams lost. The Red Sox and Blue Jays took advantage of those losses to move to within three and six games of the leaders respectively.

This has been a good season for close division races so far. The already mentioned AL East and NL Central both have ties for first place with the Reds and Cardinals tied for the NL Central lead…The Mets are only a half game behind the Braves in the NL East. The Mets are the hottest team in the majors now with a six game winning streak and a 9-1 record in their last ten games.

The Milwaukee Brewers are the only NL Central team with a winning record in their last ten games with a 6-4 record while the Pittsburgh Pirates are 0-10 in their last ten games and need a 19 game winning streak to get back to .500 baseball. The Dodgers hold a slim half game lead over the Padres and a game lead over the Giants.

Tim Lincecum (7-2) won his second game in June after winning only once in May while striking out 10 in 6-3 win over the Orioles….Vernon Wells hit his 16th home run of the 2010 season yesterday surpassing his 15 home runs hit in 2010.

Tommy Hanson (7-3) is back on track after giving up 13 runs and 15 hits combined in April 15 and April 20 starts against the Diamondbacks and Reds. Since then, he has allowed only seven runs in his last five starts and has been 4-0 in those starts lowering his ERA from 4.18 to 3.38….Jamie Moyer who will be 48 in November won his 265th career victory last night in a win over the Yankees.

MLB.com doesn’t list the White Sox pitcher who will face Stephen Strasburg tomorrow night. Mark Buehrle starts tonight in place of an injured Jake Peavy and was originally scheduled to face Strasburg so now either Gavin Floyd who pitched last on Sunday or another starter will face Strasburg.

The White Sox have now won six of their last seven games but don’t meet head to head with the first place Twins in the AL Central till they play a four game series in Minnesota on July 15….Josh Hamilton continued his torrid hitting by hitting his 16th home run on a 4 for 5 night against the Marlins in the ninth inning.

Brennan Boesch of the Tigers hit his ninth home run of the season and is leading AL rookies in hitting with a .344 average, in home runs with nine, in RBI with 34 and is slugging .631 also leading AL rookies. An amazing stat for Boesch is that the lefthanded hitting Boesch is hitting lefthanders at a .485 clip so he is not intimidated by facing lefthanders.

Starlin Castro of the Cubs is in the midst of his first slump since his six RBI debut. He is hitting .212 in his last ten games. He has only 10 RBI in 35 games and 125 at bats since his debut. He hit .310 in May but is hitting only .186 in May. It will be interesting to see how he handles this slump. I expect Castro start hitting again soon.

ESPN.com lists all players who have played at least ten years with the same club. Chipper Jones leads all players with 16 years with the Atlanta Braves. Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter are next with 15 years each with the New York Yankees.