Nobody rides for free
Nobody gets it like they want it to be
Nobody hands you any guarantee
Chris Carpenter and Roger Clemens matched up last night - Clemens left after five innings with a strained hamstring. Carpenter picked up his 20th win, with the Houston bullpen taking the loss. In his last four starts, Clemens is 0-2, 3.19 and has effectively fallen out of Cy Young contention - Carpenter and Dontrelle Willis will settle this over the next four weeks. Despite his 1.57 ERA, Clemens is just 11-7.
The Astros have been shutout 16 times, more than any other major league team. That's not too astonishing - someone has to be first, and the Astros, with 571 runs scored, are indeed one of the lower scoring teams in the majors. Not that this guarantees much of anything. The San Francisco Giants have scored fewer runs than Houston, but are tied with Atlanta for fewest times being shut out.
Half of Houston's shutouts came when Roger Clemens was pitching, of course. So eight times Clemens has been supported by 0 runs - his record in those eight games is a fairly remarkable 0-3, 1.11 - five times, Clemens himself didn't allow a run.
So let us, as was suggested yesterday, have a look at the pitchers who have risen to the occasion against the Rocket:
April 13 - Kaz Ishii of the Mets and three relievers teamed up for the 1-0 victory. Clemens pitched seven scoreless and wasn't around for the decision. Ishii worked 7 IP of two-hitter. It was by far the best start of his 16 starts this year (Game Score 75). Ishii also worked six shutout ininings against San Diego in July.
April 18 - Tim Hudson and three Atlanta relievers teamed up for a 1-0 victory in 12 innings. Clemens again worked seven scoreless and wasn't around for the decision. This was Hudson's best start of the year - 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K (Game Score 87) - he's had two other scoreless appearances in 24 starts this season, of eight and six innings.
April 23 - Mark Mulder pitched a 10 inning shutout, allowing just 4 hits in a 1-0 Cardinals victory. Yet again, Clemens went seven scoreless and wasn't around for the decision. This was Mulder's best game of the season (game Score 87) - he's had three other scoreless outings in his 27 starts, including another CG shutout, over Arizona.
May 30 - Aaron Harang worked seven shutout innings (Game score 76) and left with a 2-0 lead. Clemens took the loss- he left after 8, trailing 2-0. The Astros bullpen gave up seven runs to make the final score 9-0. Harang (27 starts) has one other scoreless start and one start that scores higher - an 8 inning ND against San Diego in early May where he allowed 3 hits and 1 run.
July 17 - Chris Carpenter tossed a 3 hit shutout, striking out 9 (Game Score 90) - Clemens allowed 3 runs (2 unearned) in his seven innings and took the loss. Carpenter has four shutouts and six scoreless outings in his 28 starts this season, including another Game that scored a 90 (his four hit shutout of the Pirates) and another that checked in at 94 (his one-hitter against the Blue Jays.)
August 13 - Clemens worked 8 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and left with the score tied at zero. Pittsburgh scored off Brad Lidge to win the game - Kip Wells had started, and worked seven shutout innings before leaving (Game Score 65). Wells has four scoreless outings among his 27 starts, and he has had several better starts in 2005 than his matchup with Clemens, the best being his four-hitter with 12 Ks against the Phillies.
August 23 - Clemens and Jake Peavy both went the distance, Peavy coming out ahead by a 2-0 margin. Peavy's Game scored at 83 - Peavy has two games that score higher, and five other scoreless outings, including another two shutouts, in his 26 starts.
August 28 - Clemens went six shutout innings before leaving - Jeff Weaver pitched 8 shutout innings, striking out 10 to get the win (Game Score 78). Weaver has two other scoreless outings, one a CG shutout, in his 28 starts, both in April, and one of them scored higher (GS 83).
Eight pitchers are involved: Kaz Ishii, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Aaron Harang, Chris Carpenter, Kip Wells, Jake Peavy, and Jeff Weaver. These eight pitchers have made 203 starts this season. They've made 28 scoreless appearances and pitched 11 shutouts.
These eight outings against Clemens account for 3.9% of their total starts - but they account for 28.5% of their scoreless starts, and 27.2% of their shutouts.
What's on today:
AL
TAM: Kazmir (7-9, 4.20 ERA) at
TOR: Bush (4-7, 4.31 ERA)
BAL: Lopez (13-8, 4.85 ERA) at
BOS: Wells (11-6, 4.44 ERA)
TEX: Volquez (0-1, 9.64 ERA) at
KAN: Gobble (1-0, 6.42 ERA)
CLE: Westbrook (13-13, 4.65 ERA) at
MIN: Baker (1-1, 2.25 ERA)
DET: Bonderman (14-11, 4.44 ERA) at
CHW: Garland (16-8, 3.45 ERA)
SEA: Harris (2-1, 2.28 ERA) at
LAA: Colon (17-6, 3.23 ERA)
NYY: Chacon (4-9, 3.72 ERA) at
OAK: Zito (12-10, 3.37 ERA)
NL
CIN: Ortiz (8-10, 5.43 ERA) at
ATL: Ramirez (11-8, 4.49 ERA)
PHI: Tejeda (4-3, 3.19 ERA) at
WAS: Loaiza (9-10, 3.73 ERA)
NYM: Seo (6-1, 1.86 ERA) at
FLA: Burnett (12-8, 3.07 ERA)
CHC: Williams (4-7, 5.20 ERA) at
PIT: Wells (7-14, 4.66 ERA)
SDG: Peavy (12-6, 3.01 ERA) at
MIL: Davis (9-10, 4.12 ERA)
STL: Marquis (10-13, 4.42 ERA) at
HOU: Rodriguez (9-6, 5.94 ERA)
LAD: Jackson (1-1, 5.40 ERA) at
COL: Day (1-2, 7.05 ERA)
SFO: Cain (0-1, 3.60 ERA) at
ARI: Ortiz (5-8, 6.82 ERA)
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