COMPLETE GAME VICTORIES TO CLINCH DIVISION SERIES (Updated with Chris Carpenter)

Last year I wrote a post about pitchers who threw a complete game victory to clinch the Division Series.

In the 2010 Division Series I added Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee.

Tonight both Hamels and Lee sat in Citizens Bank Ballpark and saw Chris Carpenter put himself on the list.

Let's update it.

Complete Game Division Series Clinchers

John Smoltz
1997 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3
4-1 victory against Houston Astros




Bobby Jones
2000 NEW YORK METS
Game 4
4-0 victory against San Francisco Giants




Curt Schilling
2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Game 5
2-1 victory against St. Louis Cardinals



Cole Hamels
2010 PHILADELPHIA PHLLIES
Game 3
2-0 victory against Cincinnati Reds


Cliff Lee
2010 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 5
5-1 victory against Tampa Bay Rays

Chris Carpenter

2011 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Game 5

1-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies

The 2001 Series didn’t end with Schilling on the mound getting the last out. The series ended with a walk off single by Tony Womack.

For sticklers of details, they played the Division Series in 1981 as well and two more complete games clinched series THAT year.

Steve Rogers
1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
Game 5
3-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies


Jerry Reuss
1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 5
4-0 victory against Houston Astros

But while relievers were being used more frequently then, the whole specialization of EVERY bullpen role (and the cheapening of the save) didn’t come around until the late 1980s.

So welcome to Division Series immortality, Chris Carpenter.

And you are welcome Bobby Jones for reminding everyone of your great feat!

Did you see what happened in Arizona tonight?

Daniel Hudson was pitching for the Diamondbacks tonight against his old team, the White Sox.

He's a 24 year old pitcher going up against Edwin Jackson, the guy he was traded for.

He was throwing a shutout into the 7th, but a Paul Konerko homer made it a game and he let base runners on in the 8th and 9th.

Do you know what Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson did?
He let him pitch through it. He didn't baby him.

And now he got a complete game win and has the experience of working through his own jams.
Hudson is now 8-5 with a good 3.56 ERA and is averaging 6 2/3 innings a start.

The Diamondbacks now have a good young pitcher who they can count on to go deep into games. And they got that because THEY LET HIM PITCH!

It sounds so simple. And yet so few teams do that.

But I covered that in the last Sully Baseball video.

Good for Ron Roenicke

Good for him for getting his first win as Brewers manager.

But also good for him for not panicking nor "going by the book."

It's early in the season and everyone is soiling their pants with pitch counts. Meanwhile Yovani Gallardo chucked 8 innings of 2 hit ball in a 1-0 game. Did Roenicke go to the closer like everyone on the planet Earth is told they should do?

Nope. He let Gallardo finish it. An ace is established. Confidence is built. More wins to come.

Also good for him for employing one of the Iorg brothers.

I always confused them. Then again, I also confused the Roenickes.

Maybe that's why he hired him.

COMPLETE GAME VICTORIES TO CLINCH DIVISION SERIES (Updated with Cliff Lee)

A few days ago I wrote a post about pitchers who threw a complete game victory to clinch the Division Series.

I felt it was such a rare occurrence that it was worth noting.

Now it has happened twice in three days and Cliff Lee has added his name to the list. It just goes to show you, I shouldn't write lists like this until the round is OVER!

Let's update it.

Complete Game Division Series Clinchers

John Smoltz
1997 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3
4-1 victory against Houston Astros




Bobby Jones
2000 NEW YORK METS
Game 4
4-0 victory against San Francisco Giants




Curt Schilling
2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Game 5
2-1 victory against St. Louis Cardinals



Cole Hamels
2010 PHILADELPHIA PHLLIES
Game 3
2-0 victory against Cincinnati Reds


Cliff Lee
2010 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 5
5-1 victory against Tampa Bay Rays

The 2001 Series didn’t end with Schilling on the mound getting the last out. The series ended with a walk off single by Tony Womack.

For sticklers of details, they played the Division Series in 1981 as well and two more complete games clinched series THAT year.

Steve Rogers
1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
Game 5
3-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies


Jerry Reuss
1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 5
4-0 victory against Houston Astros

But while relievers were being used more frequently then, the whole specialization of EVERY bullpen role (and the cheapening of the save) didn’t come around until the late 1980s.

Maybe we'll update it next year if there is any new names to add.

Little side note... Cliff Lee is the first person to throw a complete game to clinch an AMERICAN LEAGUE Division Series.

ChaChing this off season!

Complete Game Victories to Clinch the Division Series

Cole Hamels gave the Division Series a wonderful exclamation point and helped the Phillies continue to serve notice:

They intend to roll over the National League.

Last night, Hamels gave the Phillies their second complete game shutout in 3 games. (Granted, Halladay’s was more impressive.)

But a clinching complete game shutout is nonetheless pretty dang cool.
And RARE.

In this day and age of high paid closer, the clinching pitch is almost always thrown by the closer regardless of the situation. (The Yankees didn’t NEED to bring in Rivera the other day against the Twins.)

You might see the occasional World Series clinched with a complete game (a la Josh Beckett in 2003) or the LCS (a la Jose Contreras in 2005) but throwing a complete game to clinch a Division Series didn’t seem all that common.

So the staff at Sully Baseball looked it up, and since the Division Series became an annual event in 1995, there have been only three other times when a pitcher threw a complete game to clinch the first round.

Complete Game Division Series Clinchers

John Smoltz
1997 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3
4-1 victory against Houston Astros




Bobby Jones
2000 NEW YORK METS
Game 4
4-0 victory against San Francisco Giants




Curt Schilling
2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Game 5
2-1 victory against St. Louis Cardinals



Cole Hamels
2010 PHILADELPHIA PHLLIES
Game 3
2-0 victory against Cincinnati Reds

The 2001 Series didn’t end with Schilling on the mound getting the last out. The series ended with a walk off single by Tony Womack.

For sticklers of details, they played the Division Series in 1981 as well and two more complete games clinched series THAT year.

Steve Rogers
1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
Game 5
3-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies


Jerry Reuss
1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 5
4-0 victory against Houston Astros

But while relievers were being used more frequently then, the whole specialization of EVERY bullpen role (and the cheapening of the save) didn’t come around until the late 1980s.

So Cole Hamels has a complete game clincher to go along with his NLCS MVP, World Series MVP and World Series ring.

And gets to join select company.

I’ve heard this song before…

The Giants finished the regular season as Division Champs and got home field advantage in the Division Series. And drew the Wild Card team from the East.

They won Game 1 with a complete game shutout from their ace and looked like they were cruising in Game 2.

Everyone had their eyes set for the League Championship Series… and maybe if luck with have it a match up against Dusty Baker’s squad.

And then before anyone knew what was happening, they lost Game 2.

Am I talking about the Giants loss to Atlanta tonight?
Or am I talking about the 2003 Division Series against the Marlins?

Remember that year?
The Giants had Jason Schmidt throw a complete game shutout (against Josh Beckett no less) and San Francisco was off to the races.

Then the Giants were up 4-1 in Game 2… and they fell apart.

Juan Encanarcion homered to tie the game and Marquis Grissom’s error opened up the flood gates.

They went back to Florida and lost game 3 in extra innings even though they had the lead with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 10th… and of course lost game 4 when J. T. Snow was thrown out at home trying to tie the game.

Why am I bringing this up?

Have your guard up, Giants fans… these scenarios don’t end well.

I’ve seen it before.

Lincecum picks up the gauntlet

My dad and I were talking about the Giants game this afternoon. My dad said "people are going to be expecting Lincecum to throw a no hitter on the heels of Halladay."

Well, he took care of THAT thought with the first batter.
I knew my dad was AT the game and when I saw he let up a lead off double, I thought "Oh man... please don't get rocked."

He didn't throw a no hitter... but DAMN he did the next best thing.
A DOMINATING complete game shut out?
2 hits, 1 walk and 14 STRIKEOUTS!!!

Now is there a baseball fan ALIVE who doesn't want to see a Lincecum/Halladay match up?

You could argue it was more impressive than Halladay's game.
You'd be wrong, but you could argue it.

It's nice to see the Mariners in full "Wreck the rental" mode

It's safe to say nobody is monitoring Cliff Lee's innings.
The Mariners know they are putting their ace out there for the highest bidder and what better way to up the asking price than showing he can give 9 innings and kick some butt?

Well that's what he did in Yankee Stadium tonight.

That means 4 of his last 5 starts have been complete game victories. Hell, if the Mariners trade him to an American League team, he might wind up winning the AL Cy Young award.

The Mariners are going to squeeze every inning out of him. He's in full "What do we care? He's just a rental!" mode.

Ironically the last time I saw "wreck the rental" from a team, it was the Milwaukee Brewers when they had Cliff Lee's ex teammate and fellow Cy Young winning Indians lefty C.C. Sabathia and seemed to pitch him 5 times a week.

Enjoy the Pacific Northwest, Cliff. You'll be somewhere else in 3 weeks.

Next stop for the Jamie Moyer Express... COOPERSTOWN!

I wrote a piece last March tongue firmly in cheek about Jamie Moyer possibly winning 42 more games over his career... getting to win #300... and becoming the single most unlikely Hall of Famer possibly of all time.

It was a theoretical post as Moyer was 47 years old going into this season (and has now pitched in 4 different decades) and would have to go a few years into THIS decade to pull it off.

It was just one of those Sully Baseball idle thoughts that I have 4,392 times a day.

Well in his performance last night, a 2 hit shutout against the Atlanta Braves, he sure looked like a guy who had his eyes on the prize.

Look, I don't think he is going to get to 300... but he's only 38 wins away now.

38 wins doesn't seem like that much, does it?
Especially on a team like Philadelphia.

I still don't think he will... but man am I rooting for it!

I talked earlier this week about the passing of one Phillies Ace, Robin Roberts and the dominance of the new Phillies ace, Roy Halladay.

I might be wrong about this, but I think Moyer is closer in age to Robers than Halladay!

Is anyone else worried about Roy Halladay?

He threw ANOTHER complete game today.

He's pitched a complete game in 2 of his last 3 starts. The other start he pitched 8 innings.

Why is their no panic in Philadelphia?
Why isn't there a team of doctors fretting about his arm?

He threw 113 pitches tonight! That's 13 more than 100!

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING???

I can't understand how someone could manage and think a pitcher can finish their own games and isn't babied.

They need more careful treatment. You know like Joba Chamberlain.

Once again... Roy Halladay is super human

Yesterday C. C. Sabathia was throwing a no hitter into the 8th inning before he finally let up a hit to Kelly Shoppach.

Joe Girardi revealed later that no matter what, Shoppach was going to be Sabathia's last batter. He had already thrown 111 pitches.

The hell?
The guy could throw a no hitter and suddenly he's on a pitch count?

The reasoning was it was early in the season... they don't want him to wear down... and they are thinking about October.

Meanwhile Roy Halladay went out and threw a complete game victory.
Do you know how many pitches Halladay threw?

111.

And once again, as far as I know, there was no priest on call to deliver his last rites.

Halladay isn't built like Sabathia, but nobody seemed concerned about him wearing down.
And I think it is safe to say the Phillies have their eye on October as well.

I guess Halladay is super human.
Last year I openly wondered if he was a freak of nature or if the pitch count phenomenon is a tad nuts.

Well all of these innings are taking their toll.
I mean he looks like he is on his way to his 6th top 5 Cy Young finish and today he got win #150... making him halfway to the big number.

I wonder what his secret is.
We should ask his father, Jor-El.

Over the Cliff

I can’t figure out what was more awesome this afternoon…

Cliff Lee throwing a complete game in his first ever playoff start.

Cliff Lee getting a base hit in his first ever playoff start.

Cliff Lee getting a stolen base in his first ever playoff start.

Or that he did all of it wearing the bad ass blue hat uniforms.

Either way, a good start for the defending champs

Good Job Everyone At Fenway

Good job Fans at Fenway giving Derek Lowe the warm reception he deserved.

Good job Derek Lowe tipping your hat and then throwing a darn good game.

But most importantly...


Good job Josh Beckett!

A complete game shutout?

Wait! They let him pitch 9 innings? I thought it was a league rule to take the pitcher out after 7 innings in a close game!

A 2:11 minute game at Fenway?

Remember when Beckett had a 7.22 ERA?

Me neither.