In which I present my Grand Summing Up of the work of the Blue Jays
starters this past season, complete with Game Scores and pretty
pictures.
First, let's break up the 162 games by the starter's Game Score
And now, let's have a look at the individual starters:
Average Game Score: 53.8
Median Game Score: 56
Cheap Wins: 4
Cheapest Win: July 6 vs CLE (5.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) - Game Score: 33
Tough Losses: 2
Toughest Loss: July 28 at CWS (8 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) - Game Score: 59
Blown Saves in Games Started: 4
Average Pitch Count: 107.6
Highest Pitch Count: 128 (July 28 at CWS)
-It was an up and down year for the good Doctor. He started out like a house on fire, and then he got sick. The last two starts before the appendectomy were both disasters, which was a large reason why the May losing streak reached nine games (it has been Doc's custom in the past to stop such things before they get so far.) Upon his return, he immediately offered one outstanding start, which he followed with the worst performance by any Blue Jays starter all season. He followed that with three very fine starts in a row, and seemed to be himself again - before turning in four mediocre outings in a row around the All-Star Break. From that point on, however, he was the Doc of old. Unfortunately his Run Support, which had been downright excessive over the first half of the season, began to dry up. And then the bullpen started to blow the leads he turned over to him...
Average Game Score: 54
Median Game Score: 54
Cheap Wins: 0
Cheapest Win: N/A
Tough Losses: 3
Toughest Loss: Aug. 26 at LAA (7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) - Game Score: 59
Blown Saves in Games Started: 2
Average Pitch Count: 100.3
Highest Pitch Count: 122 vs BOS, Sept. 17
- McGowan's results immediately after being added to the rotation at the beginning of May weren't all that impressive, but the Jays didn't really have much in the way of alternatives at that particular moment. He got a chance to find his feet and establish something. In the period around the All-Star Break, he began to alternate outings that were scary bad with outings that were scary brilliant. In the second half, he put the whole thing together, and gave his team a good night's work every time out until his second-last outing of the season, against the Yankees. He has a real chance to be the team's best starter in 2008.
Average Game Score: 57.2
Median Game Score: 62
Cheap Wins: 1
Cheapest Win: Sep. 25 at BAL (6.2 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) Game Score: 42
Tough Losses: 4
Toughest Loss: May 27 at MIN (8 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) Game Score: 67
Blown Saves in Games Started: 4
Average Pitch Count: 106.5
Highest Pitch Count: 131 vs TB June 7
- Unless A.J. Burnett is the team's best starter. He probably was in 2007. He got his worst start of the year out of the way in the season's second game. When Halladay went out, he stepped up big-time. Over the next thirty days, he delievered seven straight quality starts, completing seven innings in all but one of them. He went just 3-3, 3.10 during this period, largely because the team was only able to score 20 runs altogether in those seven games. Alas, his manager probably rode him too hard during the dark days of May. After a mediocre start against the Giants on June 12 he went to the DL. He returned fifteen days later, made another poor start against the Twins on June 28, and went back on the DL. He spent six weeks on the shelf, but when he returned he put together as fine a stretch of work as he's done since becoming a Blue Jay, going 5-1, 2.31, before closing out the year with a somewhat desultory effort in the season finale.
Average Game Score: 52.2
Median Game Score: 49
Cheap Wins: 4
Cheapest Win: Aug 31 vs SEA (5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) Game Score: 38
Tough Losses: 0
Toughest Loss: N/A
Blown Saves in Games Started: 4
Average Pitch Count: 91.28
Highest Pitch Count: 112, July 1 at SE
- In his first 18 starts after being moved from the bullpen, Marcum went 9-2, 2.91 - he allowed just 85 hits and 28 walks in 111.1 innings while striking out 79 (K/9 of 6.39.) He faded badly over the last six weeks of the season (2-2, 7.47 in his final seven starts). Marcum gives up home runs at an alarming rate; this was a much larger problem when he was coming out of the bullpen, and giving them up late in the game. He's basically a new and improved Josh Towers - his control is not quite as sharp, and he's equally vulnerable to the big fly. But he has a legitimate off-speed pitch, which gives him a chance to miss a few bats and at least stay competitive when he doesn't have everything working, and he does everything else possible to help out as well. He's the only guy in the rotation who can actually hold a baserunner, and he's a fifth infielder out there.
Average Game Score: 48.4
Median Game Score: 50
Cheap Wins: 0
Cheapest Win: N/A
Tough Losses: 1
Toughest Loss: July 3 at OAK (7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) Game Score: 70
Blown Saves in Games Started:
Average Pitch Count: 88.6
Highest Pitch Count: 106 July 3 at OAK
- After his impressive debut against the Orioles, Litsch was cuffed around pretty badly in his next three starts (0-2, 12.00 with just 2 Ks while allowing 19 hits and 4 homers in 9 IP.) He went back to the farm and regrouped during the month of June, and got a second chance when Burnett went on the DL. He took it and ran with it. He was 3-2, 1.71 in July (the team scored a total of three runs in his two losses). He got the call over Towers to stay in the rotation, and while he did fall back to earth a little, he didn't really begin to struggle until September, when he dropped three starts in a row, allowing 14 ER in 11.1 innings. But if he'd hit the wall, he fought through it and finished up strong, with three very fine starts (one each against Boston and the Yankees in the midst of their heated tussle for the division title.) Litsch doesn't miss many bats - his K/9 was just 4.05 on the season, which puts an awful lot of pressure on his defense (it was 4.53 in his second tour.) He needs to improve upon that, but a pitcher as young as Litsch is very likely to do so.
Average Game Score: 44.6
Median Game Score: 42
Cheap Wins: 2
Cheapest Win: July 2 at OAK (5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) Game Score: 43
Tough Losses: 1
Toughest Loss: June 17 vs WAS (7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) Game Score: 50
Blown Saves in Games Started: 1
Average Pitch Count: 89
Highest Pitch Count: 106, July 16 at NYY
- Ah, who the hell knows? At the age of 30, Josh Towers added a couple of mph to his fastball and posted by far the best K/9 ratio of his career, without losing any of his always impressive control. It wasn't enough to save his job. A big factor in his fine 2005 season was his ability to avoid the home run (1.04 HR per 9 IP) - it was likewise a big factor in his disastrous 2005 (2.47 HR per 9 IP). In 2007, he was exactly as vulnerable to the home run as Marcum (Towers 1.51 HR per 9 IP, Marcum 1.53 HR per 9 IP), which is a bad thing. While he doesn't walk as many people as Marcum, he gives up more base hits. He won't be offered arbitration, obviously - the Blue Jays would be required to offer him $2.3 million. Not going to happen. One keeps hearing that San Diego is interested, possibly because the GM has the same last name. It would be an interesting fit. The one thing Towers needs desperately, besides a fresh start, is an effective off-speed pitch - and who would be better qualified to help him with that than his fellow Vegas resident, and brand new team mate, Greg Maddux?
Average Game Score: 41.1
Median Game Score: 41.5
Cheap Wins: 1
Cheapest Win: Apr. 23 at BOS (5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) Game Score: 46
Tough Losses: 1
Toughest Loss: Apr. 18 vs BOS (6.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) Game Score: 51
Blown Saves in Games Started: 1
Average Pitch Count: 88.8
Highest Pitch Count: 102 Apr. 29 vs TEX
- Ohka seemed to be rounding into some kind of form towards the end of April - he pitched okay in a loss to Boston, and then beat the Red Sox and the Rangers in back-to-back starts. The game against Texas was by far his most impressive outing as a Jay. He scuffled through his next few starts, had his turn skipped a couple of times, got a couple of more chances, didn't take advantage and they cut him loose...
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I am oddly enamored of the Small Sample. Baseball is a game of small samples, after all! Entire seasons have been known to come down to the final inning of a single game! What could be a smaller sample than that? How else do we explain St. Louis Cardinals, 2006 champions! And I'm about the only person I'm aware of (besides Earl Weaver) who takes batter-pitcher matchups seriously - something in which there are no large samples. It's very unusual these days for a hitter to accumulate as many as 100 at bats against the same pitcher over his career (and the names Bonds and Maddux tend to figure in many of those matchups.)
Actually, I think I wrote about this before. Let's see... steps into the Way-Back Machine... ah-ha! A Game Report, celebrating a pummelling of the Red Sox back in 2005. In the course of which, I rationalized my interest in the batter-pitcher matchup!
There are enormous differences in how certain hitters perform against certain hitters. I think, in the course of time, that these differences would even out. But it is the nature of the game that this never happens because no one, even if they play against each other in the same league for almost 20 years, faces anybody often enough to get beyond the small sample size.
The active player with the most career at bats against Burnett is Bobby Abreu of the Yankees (13-40, .325), who also spent years in the NL East. Abreu, Chipper Jones (13-37, .351) and Sean Casey (13-23, .565) have the most hits. He's fanned Abreu 12 times, more than any other hitter. Andruw Jones is the only hitter with 3 homers against A.J. - Andruw and Jim Edmonds have both drawn a dozen walks against Burnett as well. Who does he absolutely own? Aubrey Huff. Huff is 4-39 (.103) with 10 Ks against Burnett. Scott Rolen is 0-18 with a couple of walks, and Jose Reyes has never even reached base against Burnett (0-17.)
Towers and Halladay have both spent their entire careers in the AL East, working against the same hitters (although Doc has roughly twice as many career innings.) The opposing player with the most career at bats against Doc is David Ortiz (21-72, .292) - Papi's 5 HR and 19 RBI are the most against Halladay of any active player. Doc has struck out Alfonso Soriano 20 times in 54 at bats (Fonz is 13-54, .241 with a homer) - he's also got Derek Jeter (16-62, .258) 18 times. Who's given him some grief? Pudge Rodriguez (10-26, .385 with 2 HR) and Hank Blalock (11-29, .379 with 2 HRs). And who does he absolutely own? Well, Carlos Guillen is 2-23 (.087) against Doc. Juan Rivera is hitless in 13 attempts. Torii Hunter (3-25, .120). Kevin Millar (7-43, 163). Mike Sweeney (5-33, .152).
Josh Towers has faced Carl Crawford more than any other active hitter, and the Tampa flash has had himself a time (20-47, .426 with 5 HRs) - no one has as many hits or homers off Towers. David Ortiz has 4 HRs against Towers (in just 15 at bats), as does Aubrey Huff. And Mike Lowell of the Red Sox has 8 hits against Towers in just 11 at bats. Gulp. Eric Chavez would be another Personal Nemesis (12-22, .545 with 5 HRs.) Towers generally does fine against the best right-handed power hitters: Manny Ramirez (6-29, .207 ), Gary Sheffield (3-18, .167), Alex Rodriguez ( 6-29, .207), Miguel Tejada (7-38, .184) while being eaten up by the line drive hitters: Derek Jeter (15-39, .385), Shannon Stewart (10-25, .400), Julio Lugo (15-42, .357).
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I'm going to examine the season-long juggling of the rotation. I examined Gibbons' work in this regard after the 2005 season, and somewhat to my surprise, found pretty well nothing to second guess! Let's do it again!
The original five were Halladay, Burnett, Chacin, Ohka, and Towers. The Jays had a couple of early off-days, so they held back fifth starter Josh Towers until the second time through the rotation.
Halladay-Burnett-Chacin-Ohka (off-day after Halladay, April 3; off-day after Burnett, April 5)
And now he ran through his original five four times in succession:
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka (off-day after Towers, April 16)
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka (off-day after Halladay, April 25)
At this point, with th team having gone 13-12 in April, the brain trust decided it was time for a change. Josh Towers was pulled from the rotation, to be replaced by Victor Zambrano. The timing of this move, if nothing else, seemed a little odd. Towers had the second-best ERA of the five starters, the best strikeout rate, and the best control record. He did have a 1-3 record, true - but he'd also been the beneficiary of a paltry 2.5 Runs per Game. Johan Santana goes 1-3 with that kind of support. Meanwhile, after a fine spring, Zambrano had pitched just 5.1 innings in the first month of the season and was less than a year removed from Tommy John surgery.
Nevertheless, there were 2006 good reasons for the short leash, as even a long-time Towers defender (if not outright apologist!) such as myself was able to see. However, the day after the Jays announced this particular decision, another move suddenly became necessary. Gustavo Chacin went on the Disabled List - Dustin McGowan, pitching very well at Syracuse, was summoned to take his spot. I remember being somewhat critical ("this had better work") of that particular move.
And so the Zambrano Era was upon us. It was memorable, if nothing else:
Halladay-Burnett-Zambrano-McGowan-Ohka
Halladay-Burnett-Zambrano-Ohka (off-day after Burnett, May 7; they skipped McGowan's turn)
The losing streak now stood at eight games, and Zambrano was quickly dispatched to the Disabled List, never to be seen in a Blue Jay uniform again. He was replaced in the rotation by Shaun Marcum, who had somehow managed to give up four home runs in a single month while pitching short relief (thus accounting for all but one of the homers allowed by Blue Jays relievers.)
Gibbons got to run through this group of five just once:
Halladay-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum-Ohka
Because the day after Halladay's dreadful start against Boston (the team's ninth straight loss), the Doc was in the hospital having his appendix removed. Jesse Litsch was called up from AA, and a couple of off-days allowed Gibbons to skip Tomo Ohka's turn. Not once, but twice. They said they'd use him out of the bullpen, but he never did make a relief appearance.
Litsch-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum (off-day after Burnett, May 17)
Litsch-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum (off-day after Litsch, May 21)
Litsch-Ohka-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum
And then the remarkably swift return of Roy Halladay prompted Gibbons to pass over Ohka one more time:
Litsch-Halladay-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum (off-day after Marcum, June 4)
After his impressive debut, Litsch had struggled - in his last outing, he had failed to get out of the first inning. He went back to the minors, and Ohka got one last chance.
Halladay-Ohka-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum
At which point, the team gave up on Ohka - he was designated for assignment on June 7 and released on June 18. Before the year was out, he would be signed, examined, and released by St. Louis and Seattle. He's probably wishing he'd taken one of those two year offers he was looking over last winter.
So Josh Towers went back into the rotation, just in time for inter-league play (in his career, Towers has been far more effective against AL teams than NL teams.)
Halladay-Towers-Burnett-McGowan (off-day after McGowan, June 14)
Marcum wasn't being skipped - Gibbons was taking advantage of the off-day to bump Halladay forward while keeping him on his normal rest.
But A.J. Burnett, who had been asked to carry a very heavy load while Halladay was missing, now took his first turn on the DL.
Gibbons has received a lot of criticism for riding Burnett, a pitcher with a long and extensive injury history, as hard as he did during this period. The criticism is understandable, but in fairness to Gibbons he had another issue causing him problems. The rest of his rotation wasn't pitching very many innings at all. Marcum, having begun the year in the bullpen, was being handled carefully as he adjusted to a starter's workload. McGowan didn't make it through six innings until his fourth start, near the end of May. Ohka wasn't pitching particularly well. Litsch had had the one outstanding start, but that was the only time he even made it through five innings. Towers, like Zambrano before him, went into the rotation after sitting around and not pitching for a month, and couldn't be expected to suddenly start eating innings.
Burnett was the only starter Gibbons could count on to give his by now beleaguered bullpen a bit of a break. He rode the horse too hard, and they paid for it, but you can see why it happened.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-McGowan (off-day after Towers, June 18)
The off-day let Gibbons move Halladay up again, and Ty Taubenheim came up to make his one start of the season, in place of Burnett.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-Taubenheim-McGowan
Burnett came back, started once against the Twins and went straight back to the DL.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-Burnett-McGowan
And Jesse Litsch came back to take his place. These five took us to the All-Star Break.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-Litsch-McGowan (off-day after McGowan, July 4)
Halladay-Marcum-Towers (All-Star Break, July 9-11)
The break let Gibbons move Halladay forward again, and for the first time all season, the rotation took on a semblance of consistency.
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers (off-day after Litsch, July 26)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers (off-day after Towers, August 1)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers
By this time, A.J. Burnett was ready to return. Towers had produced a few outstanding starts and a whole bunch of mediocre ones. Jesse Litsch's best hadn't been as good, but he'd been much more dependable and much more likely to provide the team with a decent game. He stayed in the rotation and Towers more or less vanished from the face of the earth. Gibbons turned the same five starters over in succession until the final week of the season.
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch (off-day after Halladay, August 9)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch (off-day after Halladay, August 30)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Litsch and Burnett exchanged places when Burnett had a personal issue that caused him to miss a game.
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Burnett
And after this start, Shaun Marcum was shut down. Josh Banks took his place the last time through the rotation.
Halladay-Banks-McGowan-Litsch-Burnett
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Here's the complete 2007 Game Score Log
First, let's break up the 162 games by the starter's Game Score
GS Games Pitcher's Team Pitchers**********************************************
Record Record
90+ 1 1-0 1-0 McGowan (1)
80-89 6 5-0 6-0 Halladay (2), Burnett (1), Marcum (1), McGowan (1), Towers (1)
70-79 19 15-0 17-2 Marcum (5), Halladay (4), Burnett (4), McGowan (3), Towers (2), Litsch (1)
60-69 34 20-5 23-11 Burnett (12), Halladay (6), McGowan (5), Litsch (5), Marcum (4),
Ohka (1), Chacin (1)
50-59 26 10-8 13-8 Halladay (9), McGowan (7), Litsch (4), Marcum (2), Burnett (1),
Ohka (1), Towers (1), Chacin (1)
40-49 36 11-13 17-19 Marcum (9), Towers (6), Halladay (5), Litsch (4), McGowan (4),
Burnett (3), Ohka (3), Chacin (1), Zambrano (1)
30-39 18 2-10 3-15 Litsch (4), McGowan (3), Ohka (3), Towers (2), Banks (3),
Halladay (1), Burnett (1), Chacin (1), Taubenheim (1), Marcum (1)
20-29 14 0-12 2-12 Burnett (3), Towers (3), McGowan (2), Ohka (2), Marcum (1),
Litsch (1), Halladay (1), Chacin (1)
10-19 5 0-5 0-5 Marcum (2), McGowan (1), Halladay (1), Litsch (1)
0-9 3 0-2 1-2 Halladay (2), Zambrano (1)
And now, let's have a look at the individual starters:
Average Game Score: 53.8
Median Game Score: 56
Cheap Wins: 4
Cheapest Win: July 6 vs CLE (5.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) - Game Score: 33
Tough Losses: 2
Toughest Loss: July 28 at CWS (8 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) - Game Score: 59
Blown Saves in Games Started: 4
Average Pitch Count: 107.6
Highest Pitch Count: 128 (July 28 at CWS)
-It was an up and down year for the good Doctor. He started out like a house on fire, and then he got sick. The last two starts before the appendectomy were both disasters, which was a large reason why the May losing streak reached nine games (it has been Doc's custom in the past to stop such things before they get so far.) Upon his return, he immediately offered one outstanding start, which he followed with the worst performance by any Blue Jays starter all season. He followed that with three very fine starts in a row, and seemed to be himself again - before turning in four mediocre outings in a row around the All-Star Break. From that point on, however, he was the Doc of old. Unfortunately his Run Support, which had been downright excessive over the first half of the season, began to dry up. And then the bullpen started to blow the leads he turned over to him...
Average Game Score: 54
Median Game Score: 54
Cheap Wins: 0
Cheapest Win: N/A
Tough Losses: 3
Toughest Loss: Aug. 26 at LAA (7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) - Game Score: 59
Blown Saves in Games Started: 2
Average Pitch Count: 100.3
Highest Pitch Count: 122 vs BOS, Sept. 17
- McGowan's results immediately after being added to the rotation at the beginning of May weren't all that impressive, but the Jays didn't really have much in the way of alternatives at that particular moment. He got a chance to find his feet and establish something. In the period around the All-Star Break, he began to alternate outings that were scary bad with outings that were scary brilliant. In the second half, he put the whole thing together, and gave his team a good night's work every time out until his second-last outing of the season, against the Yankees. He has a real chance to be the team's best starter in 2008.
Average Game Score: 57.2
Median Game Score: 62
Cheap Wins: 1
Cheapest Win: Sep. 25 at BAL (6.2 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) Game Score: 42
Tough Losses: 4
Toughest Loss: May 27 at MIN (8 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) Game Score: 67
Blown Saves in Games Started: 4
Average Pitch Count: 106.5
Highest Pitch Count: 131 vs TB June 7
- Unless A.J. Burnett is the team's best starter. He probably was in 2007. He got his worst start of the year out of the way in the season's second game. When Halladay went out, he stepped up big-time. Over the next thirty days, he delievered seven straight quality starts, completing seven innings in all but one of them. He went just 3-3, 3.10 during this period, largely because the team was only able to score 20 runs altogether in those seven games. Alas, his manager probably rode him too hard during the dark days of May. After a mediocre start against the Giants on June 12 he went to the DL. He returned fifteen days later, made another poor start against the Twins on June 28, and went back on the DL. He spent six weeks on the shelf, but when he returned he put together as fine a stretch of work as he's done since becoming a Blue Jay, going 5-1, 2.31, before closing out the year with a somewhat desultory effort in the season finale.
Average Game Score: 52.2
Median Game Score: 49
Cheap Wins: 4
Cheapest Win: Aug 31 vs SEA (5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) Game Score: 38
Tough Losses: 0
Toughest Loss: N/A
Blown Saves in Games Started: 4
Average Pitch Count: 91.28
Highest Pitch Count: 112, July 1 at SE
- In his first 18 starts after being moved from the bullpen, Marcum went 9-2, 2.91 - he allowed just 85 hits and 28 walks in 111.1 innings while striking out 79 (K/9 of 6.39.) He faded badly over the last six weeks of the season (2-2, 7.47 in his final seven starts). Marcum gives up home runs at an alarming rate; this was a much larger problem when he was coming out of the bullpen, and giving them up late in the game. He's basically a new and improved Josh Towers - his control is not quite as sharp, and he's equally vulnerable to the big fly. But he has a legitimate off-speed pitch, which gives him a chance to miss a few bats and at least stay competitive when he doesn't have everything working, and he does everything else possible to help out as well. He's the only guy in the rotation who can actually hold a baserunner, and he's a fifth infielder out there.
Average Game Score: 48.4
Median Game Score: 50
Cheap Wins: 0
Cheapest Win: N/A
Tough Losses: 1
Toughest Loss: July 3 at OAK (7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) Game Score: 70
Blown Saves in Games Started:
Average Pitch Count: 88.6
Highest Pitch Count: 106 July 3 at OAK
- After his impressive debut against the Orioles, Litsch was cuffed around pretty badly in his next three starts (0-2, 12.00 with just 2 Ks while allowing 19 hits and 4 homers in 9 IP.) He went back to the farm and regrouped during the month of June, and got a second chance when Burnett went on the DL. He took it and ran with it. He was 3-2, 1.71 in July (the team scored a total of three runs in his two losses). He got the call over Towers to stay in the rotation, and while he did fall back to earth a little, he didn't really begin to struggle until September, when he dropped three starts in a row, allowing 14 ER in 11.1 innings. But if he'd hit the wall, he fought through it and finished up strong, with three very fine starts (one each against Boston and the Yankees in the midst of their heated tussle for the division title.) Litsch doesn't miss many bats - his K/9 was just 4.05 on the season, which puts an awful lot of pressure on his defense (it was 4.53 in his second tour.) He needs to improve upon that, but a pitcher as young as Litsch is very likely to do so.
Average Game Score: 44.6
Median Game Score: 42
Cheap Wins: 2
Cheapest Win: July 2 at OAK (5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) Game Score: 43
Tough Losses: 1
Toughest Loss: June 17 vs WAS (7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) Game Score: 50
Blown Saves in Games Started: 1
Average Pitch Count: 89
Highest Pitch Count: 106, July 16 at NYY
- Ah, who the hell knows? At the age of 30, Josh Towers added a couple of mph to his fastball and posted by far the best K/9 ratio of his career, without losing any of his always impressive control. It wasn't enough to save his job. A big factor in his fine 2005 season was his ability to avoid the home run (1.04 HR per 9 IP) - it was likewise a big factor in his disastrous 2005 (2.47 HR per 9 IP). In 2007, he was exactly as vulnerable to the home run as Marcum (Towers 1.51 HR per 9 IP, Marcum 1.53 HR per 9 IP), which is a bad thing. While he doesn't walk as many people as Marcum, he gives up more base hits. He won't be offered arbitration, obviously - the Blue Jays would be required to offer him $2.3 million. Not going to happen. One keeps hearing that San Diego is interested, possibly because the GM has the same last name. It would be an interesting fit. The one thing Towers needs desperately, besides a fresh start, is an effective off-speed pitch - and who would be better qualified to help him with that than his fellow Vegas resident, and brand new team mate, Greg Maddux?
Average Game Score: 41.1
Median Game Score: 41.5
Cheap Wins: 1
Cheapest Win: Apr. 23 at BOS (5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) Game Score: 46
Tough Losses: 1
Toughest Loss: Apr. 18 vs BOS (6.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) Game Score: 51
Blown Saves in Games Started: 1
Average Pitch Count: 88.8
Highest Pitch Count: 102 Apr. 29 vs TEX
- Ohka seemed to be rounding into some kind of form towards the end of April - he pitched okay in a loss to Boston, and then beat the Red Sox and the Rangers in back-to-back starts. The game against Texas was by far his most impressive outing as a Jay. He scuffled through his next few starts, had his turn skipped a couple of times, got a couple of more chances, didn't take advantage and they cut him loose...
*************************************
I am oddly enamored of the Small Sample. Baseball is a game of small samples, after all! Entire seasons have been known to come down to the final inning of a single game! What could be a smaller sample than that? How else do we explain St. Louis Cardinals, 2006 champions! And I'm about the only person I'm aware of (besides Earl Weaver) who takes batter-pitcher matchups seriously - something in which there are no large samples. It's very unusual these days for a hitter to accumulate as many as 100 at bats against the same pitcher over his career (and the names Bonds and Maddux tend to figure in many of those matchups.)
Actually, I think I wrote about this before. Let's see... steps into the Way-Back Machine... ah-ha! A Game Report, celebrating a pummelling of the Red Sox back in 2005. In the course of which, I rationalized my interest in the batter-pitcher matchup!
There are enormous differences in how certain hitters perform against certain hitters. I think, in the course of time, that these differences would even out. But it is the nature of the game that this never happens because no one, even if they play against each other in the same league for almost 20 years, faces anybody often enough to get beyond the small sample size.
What Batter/Pitcher matchups reveal is who is getting the initial advantage. This pitcher may have a release point that a certain hitter just doesn't see very well. This pitcher's bread and butter might be a pitch that a particular batter can hit at will. It is a game of constant, never-ending adjustments, and in time both players would make whatever adjustments are necessary.
But neither hitter nor pitcher never sees the other often enough.
I think I went on, a few weeks later, to examine all the current Blue Jays hitters and how they fared against individual pitchers Frank Catalanotto owns Mike Mussina, check. And Frank Menechino is comfortable against Randy Johnson. (I have a theory about that, by the way. I think most hitters are thrown off by Johnson's height - they find it strange to be batting against someone so large, who's throwing the ball down at them from such a height. But not Menechino - that describes pretty well every at bat of his career!)
The active player with the most career at bats against Burnett is Bobby Abreu of the Yankees (13-40, .325), who also spent years in the NL East. Abreu, Chipper Jones (13-37, .351) and Sean Casey (13-23, .565) have the most hits. He's fanned Abreu 12 times, more than any other hitter. Andruw Jones is the only hitter with 3 homers against A.J. - Andruw and Jim Edmonds have both drawn a dozen walks against Burnett as well. Who does he absolutely own? Aubrey Huff. Huff is 4-39 (.103) with 10 Ks against Burnett. Scott Rolen is 0-18 with a couple of walks, and Jose Reyes has never even reached base against Burnett (0-17.)
Towers and Halladay have both spent their entire careers in the AL East, working against the same hitters (although Doc has roughly twice as many career innings.) The opposing player with the most career at bats against Doc is David Ortiz (21-72, .292) - Papi's 5 HR and 19 RBI are the most against Halladay of any active player. Doc has struck out Alfonso Soriano 20 times in 54 at bats (Fonz is 13-54, .241 with a homer) - he's also got Derek Jeter (16-62, .258) 18 times. Who's given him some grief? Pudge Rodriguez (10-26, .385 with 2 HR) and Hank Blalock (11-29, .379 with 2 HRs). And who does he absolutely own? Well, Carlos Guillen is 2-23 (.087) against Doc. Juan Rivera is hitless in 13 attempts. Torii Hunter (3-25, .120). Kevin Millar (7-43, 163). Mike Sweeney (5-33, .152).
Josh Towers has faced Carl Crawford more than any other active hitter, and the Tampa flash has had himself a time (20-47, .426 with 5 HRs) - no one has as many hits or homers off Towers. David Ortiz has 4 HRs against Towers (in just 15 at bats), as does Aubrey Huff. And Mike Lowell of the Red Sox has 8 hits against Towers in just 11 at bats. Gulp. Eric Chavez would be another Personal Nemesis (12-22, .545 with 5 HRs.) Towers generally does fine against the best right-handed power hitters: Manny Ramirez (6-29, .207 ), Gary Sheffield (3-18, .167), Alex Rodriguez ( 6-29, .207), Miguel Tejada (7-38, .184) while being eaten up by the line drive hitters: Derek Jeter (15-39, .385), Shannon Stewart (10-25, .400), Julio Lugo (15-42, .357).
*****************************************
I'm going to examine the season-long juggling of the rotation. I examined Gibbons' work in this regard after the 2005 season, and somewhat to my surprise, found pretty well nothing to second guess! Let's do it again!
The original five were Halladay, Burnett, Chacin, Ohka, and Towers. The Jays had a couple of early off-days, so they held back fifth starter Josh Towers until the second time through the rotation.
Halladay-Burnett-Chacin-Ohka (off-day after Halladay, April 3; off-day after Burnett, April 5)
And now he ran through his original five four times in succession:
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka (off-day after Towers, April 16)
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka
Halladay-Burnett-Towers-Chacin-Ohka (off-day after Halladay, April 25)
At this point, with th team having gone 13-12 in April, the brain trust decided it was time for a change. Josh Towers was pulled from the rotation, to be replaced by Victor Zambrano. The timing of this move, if nothing else, seemed a little odd. Towers had the second-best ERA of the five starters, the best strikeout rate, and the best control record. He did have a 1-3 record, true - but he'd also been the beneficiary of a paltry 2.5 Runs per Game. Johan Santana goes 1-3 with that kind of support. Meanwhile, after a fine spring, Zambrano had pitched just 5.1 innings in the first month of the season and was less than a year removed from Tommy John surgery.
Nevertheless, there were 2006 good reasons for the short leash, as even a long-time Towers defender (if not outright apologist!) such as myself was able to see. However, the day after the Jays announced this particular decision, another move suddenly became necessary. Gustavo Chacin went on the Disabled List - Dustin McGowan, pitching very well at Syracuse, was summoned to take his spot. I remember being somewhat critical ("this had better work") of that particular move.
And so the Zambrano Era was upon us. It was memorable, if nothing else:
Halladay-Burnett-Zambrano-McGowan-Ohka
Halladay-Burnett-Zambrano-Ohka (off-day after Burnett, May 7; they skipped McGowan's turn)
The losing streak now stood at eight games, and Zambrano was quickly dispatched to the Disabled List, never to be seen in a Blue Jay uniform again. He was replaced in the rotation by Shaun Marcum, who had somehow managed to give up four home runs in a single month while pitching short relief (thus accounting for all but one of the homers allowed by Blue Jays relievers.)
Gibbons got to run through this group of five just once:
Halladay-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum-Ohka
Because the day after Halladay's dreadful start against Boston (the team's ninth straight loss), the Doc was in the hospital having his appendix removed. Jesse Litsch was called up from AA, and a couple of off-days allowed Gibbons to skip Tomo Ohka's turn. Not once, but twice. They said they'd use him out of the bullpen, but he never did make a relief appearance.
Litsch-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum (off-day after Burnett, May 17)
Litsch-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum (off-day after Litsch, May 21)
Litsch-Ohka-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum
And then the remarkably swift return of Roy Halladay prompted Gibbons to pass over Ohka one more time:
Litsch-Halladay-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum (off-day after Marcum, June 4)
After his impressive debut, Litsch had struggled - in his last outing, he had failed to get out of the first inning. He went back to the minors, and Ohka got one last chance.
Halladay-Ohka-Burnett-McGowan-Marcum
At which point, the team gave up on Ohka - he was designated for assignment on June 7 and released on June 18. Before the year was out, he would be signed, examined, and released by St. Louis and Seattle. He's probably wishing he'd taken one of those two year offers he was looking over last winter.
So Josh Towers went back into the rotation, just in time for inter-league play (in his career, Towers has been far more effective against AL teams than NL teams.)
Halladay-Towers-Burnett-McGowan (off-day after McGowan, June 14)
Marcum wasn't being skipped - Gibbons was taking advantage of the off-day to bump Halladay forward while keeping him on his normal rest.
But A.J. Burnett, who had been asked to carry a very heavy load while Halladay was missing, now took his first turn on the DL.
Gibbons has received a lot of criticism for riding Burnett, a pitcher with a long and extensive injury history, as hard as he did during this period. The criticism is understandable, but in fairness to Gibbons he had another issue causing him problems. The rest of his rotation wasn't pitching very many innings at all. Marcum, having begun the year in the bullpen, was being handled carefully as he adjusted to a starter's workload. McGowan didn't make it through six innings until his fourth start, near the end of May. Ohka wasn't pitching particularly well. Litsch had had the one outstanding start, but that was the only time he even made it through five innings. Towers, like Zambrano before him, went into the rotation after sitting around and not pitching for a month, and couldn't be expected to suddenly start eating innings.
Burnett was the only starter Gibbons could count on to give his by now beleaguered bullpen a bit of a break. He rode the horse too hard, and they paid for it, but you can see why it happened.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-McGowan (off-day after Towers, June 18)
The off-day let Gibbons move Halladay up again, and Ty Taubenheim came up to make his one start of the season, in place of Burnett.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-Taubenheim-McGowan
Burnett came back, started once against the Twins and went straight back to the DL.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-Burnett-McGowan
And Jesse Litsch came back to take his place. These five took us to the All-Star Break.
Halladay-Marcum-Towers-Litsch-McGowan (off-day after McGowan, July 4)
Halladay-Marcum-Towers (All-Star Break, July 9-11)
The break let Gibbons move Halladay forward again, and for the first time all season, the rotation took on a semblance of consistency.
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers (off-day after Litsch, July 26)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers (off-day after Towers, August 1)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Towers
By this time, A.J. Burnett was ready to return. Towers had produced a few outstanding starts and a whole bunch of mediocre ones. Jesse Litsch's best hadn't been as good, but he'd been much more dependable and much more likely to provide the team with a decent game. He stayed in the rotation and Towers more or less vanished from the face of the earth. Gibbons turned the same five starters over in succession until the final week of the season.
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch (off-day after Halladay, August 9)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch (off-day after Halladay, August 30)
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Burnett-Litsch
Litsch and Burnett exchanged places when Burnett had a personal issue that caused him to miss a game.
Halladay-Marcum-McGowan-Litsch-Burnett
And after this start, Shaun Marcum was shut down. Josh Banks took his place the last time through the rotation.
Halladay-Banks-McGowan-Litsch-Burnett
**********************************************************
Here's the complete 2007 Game Score Log
DATE OPP RESULT IP H R ER HR BB SO PIT BF GSc DECThere!
Halladay Apr. 2 @DET W 5-3 6 6 3 2 0 1 4 104 26 53 -
Burnett Apr. 4 @DET L 9-10 2 5 6 6 0 4 2 55 15 20 L(0-1)
Chacin Apr. 6 @TB L 5-6 6 6 3 3 3 0 2 82 23 50 -
Ohka Apr. 7 @TB W 8-5 4.1 6 5 5 2 3 1 83 23 29 -
Halladay Apr. 8 @TB W 6-3 7 7 3 3 1 3 7 113 29 55 W(1-0)
Burnett Apr. 9 KC W 9-1 6.2 3 1 1 1 3 5 103 27 66 W(1-1)
Towers Apr. 10 KC L 3-6 5.2 10 6 3 1 0 6 83 27 37 L(0-1)
Chacin Apr. 11 KC W 7-4 5 5 3 3 1 1 4 79 22 48 W(1-0)
Ohka Apr. 12 DET L 4-5 6 8 5 4 1 1 2 86 28 39 L(0-1)
Halladay Apr. 13 DET W 2-1 10 6 1 1 1 0 2 107 35 78 W(2-0)
Burnett Apr. 14 DET L 7-10 5.1 7 4 4 1 1 5 95 25 42 -
Towers Apr. 15 DET W 2-1 7.2 3 1 0 0 1 4 97 27 74 W(1-1)
Chacin Apr. 17 BOS W 2-1 6.2 6 1 1 1 0 3 97 25 61 W(2-0)
Ohka Apr. 18 BOS L 1-4 6.1 4 4 4 3 1 3 87 23 51 L(0-2)
Halladay Apr. 19 BOS L 3-5 7.1 6 2 2 0 3 2 95 29 57 -
Burnett Apr. 20 @BAL L 4-5 7 3 2 2 1 5 2 118 28 60 -
Towers Apr. 21 @BAL L 2-5 5 9 5 4 0 3 4 102 28 32 L(1-2)
Chacin Apr. 22 @BAL L 3-7 4.1 5 6 6 0 2 1 68 21 28 L(2-1)
Ohka Apr. 23 @BOS W 7-3 5 6 3 2 0 3 4 97 24 46 W(1-2)
Halladay Apr. 24 @BOS W 10-3 8 5 3 3 1 0 10 113 29 70 W(3-0)
Burnett Apr. 26 @NYY W 6-0 7 4 0 0 0 4 5 113 27 70 W(2-1)
Towers Apr. 27 TEX L 3-5 4.2 5 5 5 3 0 7 70 20 41 L(1-3)
Chacin Apr. 28 TEX L 8-9 5.1 7 4 4 1 4 1 95 27 35 -
Ohka Apr. 29 TEX W 7-3 7 5 1 1 0 3 2 102 27 62 W(2-2)
Halladay Apr. 30 TEX W 6-1 9 5 1 1 0 0 8 110 31 81 W(4-0)
Burnett May. 1 @CLE L 4-12 5 8 7 7 2 4 7 116 27 26 L(2-2)
Zambrano May. 2 @CLE L 6-7 2.2 4 2 2 1 3 1 66 15 40 -
McGowan May. 3 @CLE L 5-6 5 6 5 5 0 5 4 104 25 34 -
Ohka May. 4 @TEX L 1-7 7.1 10 7 6 2 1 1 97 31 32 L(2-3)
Halladay May. 5 @TEX L 4-11 5.1 12 9 9 0 2 3 99 29 9 L(4-1)
Burnett May. 6 @TEX L 2-3 7.2 7 3 3 3 1 9 97 31 61 L(2-3)
Zambrano May. 8 BOS L 2-9 2.2 8 8 8 4 2 0 57 16 8 L(0-2)
Ohka May. 9 BOS L 3-9 4.2 6 3 3 0 5 2 96 24 37 L(2-4)
Halladay May. 10 BOS L 0-8 5 11 8 7 1 0 2 87 25 17 L(4-2)
Burnett May. 11 TB W 5-1 6.2 5 1 1 1 5 10 118 30 65 W(3-3)
McGowan May. 12 TB W 5-4 5.2 7 4 4 2 1 6 95 23 44 -
Marcum May. 13 TB L 1-2 6 0 0 0 0 3 7 78 21 76 -
Ohka May. 14 BAL W 5-3 5 5 3 3 2 2 1 91 22 44 -
Litsch May. 15 BAL W 2-1 8.2 4 1 1 0 3 1 99 30 70 W(1-0)
Burnett May. 16 BAL W 2-1 9 3 1 1 1 2 10 103 31 85 W(4-3)
McGowan May. 18 @PHI L 3-5 4.2 3 5 5 0 4 5 86 21 39 L(0-1)
Marcum May. 19 @PHI W 13-2 6 4 2 2 1 1 6 85 22 61 W(2-2)
Litsch May. 20 @PHI L 3-5 4 7 4 4 2 1 1 71 20 32 L(1-1)
Burnett May. 22 @BAL W 6-4 6.2 6 4 4 1 2 8 104 27 52 W(5-3)
McGowan May. 23 @BAL L 2-5 6 8 3 3 0 2 3 89 26 45 L(0-2)
Marcum May. 24 @BAL W 5-4 7 6 4 4 2 2 2 101 26 49 -
Litsch May. 25 @MIN L 3-4 4.1 8 3 3 1 1 0 89 21 34 -
Ohka May. 26 @MIN W 9-8 7 8 3 3 0 2 2 94 29 49 -
Burnett May. 27 @MIN L 2-4 8 3 4 3 1 3 8 127 31 67 L(5-4)
McGowan May. 28 NYY W 7-2 7.2 5 2 2 1 1 7 117 30 67 W(1-2)
Marcum May. 29 NYY W 3-2 6 2 0 0 0 3 6 95 23 71 -
Litsch May. 30 NYY L 5-10 0.2 4 5 5 1 2 1 36 8 23 L(1-2)
Halladay May. 31 CWS W 2-0 7 6 0 0 0 0 7 95 24 72 W(5-2)
Burnett Jun. 1 CWS L 0-3 7.1 6 3 3 0 1 12 118 29 65 L(5-5)
McGowan Jun. 2 CWS W 9-3 7 6 3 3 0 3 5 103 30 55 W(2-2)
Marcum Jun. 3 CWS W 4-3 3 4 3 3 2 3 4 69 16 40 -
Halladay Jun. 5 TB W 12-11 3.1 12 8 7 2 1 1 77 23 6 -
Ohka Jun. 6 TB L 2-6 3.1 10 5 5 0 1 3 55 20 22 L(2-5)
Burnett Jun. 7 TB L 3-5 7 7 3 3 1 3 13 131 32 61 -
McGowan Jun. 8 @LAD L 3-4 7 4 2 2 1 0 4 81 25 65 -
Marcum Jun. 9 @LAD W 1-0 6.2 7 0 0 0 0 3 109 27 63 W(3-2)
Halladay Jun. 10 @LAD W 11-5 7 5 3 3 0 3 2 101 29 54 W(6-2)
Towers Jun. 11 @SF L 3-4 4 5 4 3 1 1 5 65 18 42 L(2-4)
Burnett Jun. 12 @SF L 2-3 4.2 6 3 2 0 2 4 82 22 44 L(5-6)
McGowan Jun. 13 @SF W 7-4 6 7 2 2 0 4 6 96 27 52 W(3-2)
Halladay Jun. 15 WAS W 7-2 7.1 7 2 2 1 1 6 110 27 61 W(7-2)
Marcum Jun. 16 WAS W 7-3 7 3 2 2 2 3 11 101 26 71 W(4-2)
Towers Jun. 17 WAS L 2-4 7 7 4 4 1 1 4 81 27 50 L(2-5)
McGowan Jun. 19 LAD L 1-10 1.2 8 6 6 0 2 2 67 15 15 L(3-3)
Halladay Jun. 20 LAD W 12-1 8 6 1 1 1 1 4 98 30 69 W(8-2)
Marcum Jun. 21 LAD L 4-8 6 3 2 2 1 3 1 96 24 56 -
Towers Jun. 22 COL W 9-8 4 11 5 5 1 2 2 95 24 20 -
Taubenheim Jun. 23 COL W 11-6 5 5 5 5 1 4 4 93 24 37 -
McGowan Jun. 24 COL W 5-0 9 1 0 0 0 1 7 109 29 91 W(4-3)
Halladay Jun. 25 @MIN W 8-5 7 6 5 5 0 3 4 117 29 46 W(9-2)
Marcum Jun. 26 @MIN L 1-2 8 6 1 1 0 1 2 93 29 67 -
Towers Jun. 27 @MIN W 5-4 6.1 9 4 3 0 0 2 86 29 43 W(3-5)
Burnett Jun. 28 @MIN L 5-8 4 6 5 5 2 0 6 75 20 36 -
McGowan Jun. 29 @SEA L 3-5 5 8 5 5 0 3 4 101 26 32 L(4-4)
Halladay Jun. 30 @SEA L 3-8 6 10 3 3 0 0 3 105 28 43 L(9-3)
Marcum Jul. 1 @SEA L 1-2 6.2 6 0 0 0 2 2 112 29 62 -
Towers Jul. 2 @OAK W 11-7 5 5 4 4 1 2 4 82 20 43 W(4-5)
Litsch Jul. 3 @OAK L 1-3 7 7 2 0 0 3 5 106 30 61 L(1-3)
McGowan Jul. 4 @OAK W 10-3 7 4 0 0 0 2 4 101 27 71 W(5-4)
Halladay Jul. 6 CLE W 8-6 5.2 9 5 5 1 1 3 97 27 33 W(10-3)
Marcum Jul. 7 CLE L 4-9 3.1 9 8 8 3 1 2 83 20 11 L(4-3)
Towers Jul. 8 CLE W 1-0 8 3 0 0 0 0 4 92 27 80 -
Halladay Jul. 12 @BOS L 4-7 5 8 5 5 0 4 2 112 26 29 L(10-4)
Marcum Jul. 13 @BOS W 6-5 6 7 5 3 1 1 6 109 27 47 W(5-3)
McGowan Jul. 14 @BOS L 4-9 5 8 6 6 3 2 4 104 25 29 L(5-5)
Litsch Jul. 15 @BOS W 2-1 6.2 9 1 1 0 1 2 94 27 53 W(2-3)
Towers Jul. 16 @NYY L 4-6 5.2 9 6 6 3 1 2 106 26 28 L(4-6)
Halladay Jul. 17 @NYY L 2-3 7 5 1 1 0 3 6 113 29 66 -
Marcum Jul. 18 @NYY L 1-6 6 5 3 3 0 2 1 93 22 49 L(5-4)
McGowan Jul. 19 @NYY W 3-2 7 4 2 2 0 3 3 112 27 61 W(6-5)
Litsch Jul. 20 SEA L 2-4 4.1 5 4 4 1 4 2 80 22 35 L(2-4)
Towers Jul. 21 SEA W 1-0 6.2 3 0 0 0 2 4 97 25 70 W(5-6)
Halladay Jul. 22 SEA W 8-0 9 3 0 0 0 1 3 111 30 83 W(11-4)
Marcum Jul. 23 MIN W 6-4 6 8 4 4 3 0 3 87 56 43 W(6-4)
McGowan Jul. 24 MIN W 7-0 7.1 4 0 0 0 3 5 111 68 72 W(7-5)
Litsch Jul. 25 MIN W 13-1 7 5 1 1 0 1 4 84 54 66 W(3-4)
Towers Jul. 27 @CWS L 3-4 5.1 7 4 4 0 0 5 90 61 43 L(5-7)
Halladay Jul. 28 @CWS L 0-2 8 10 2 2 1 2 7 128 35 59 L(11-5)
Marcum Jul. 29 @CWS W 4-1 8 2 1 1 1 0 8 99 25 82 W(7-4)
McGowan Jul. 30 @TB L 4-5 6 4 2 2 1 3 4 95 24 57 -
Litsch Jul. 31 @TB W 2-0 6.2 7 0 0 0 1 2 95 27 61 W(4-4)
Towers Aug. 1 @TB L 2-6 5.1 7 4 4 2 2 4 92 23 40 L(5-8)
Halladay Aug. 3 TEX W 6-4 6 7 4 4 0 2 9 105 28 49 W(12-5)
Marcum Aug. 4 TEX W 9-5 6 8 3 2 0 0 5 108 28 51 W(8-4)
McGowan Aug. 5 TEX W 4-1 8 8 1 1 1 1 6 106 33 67 W(8-5)
Litsch Aug. 6 NYY L 4-5 5 6 3 3 0 3 4 92 22 44
Towers Aug. 7 NYY L 2-9 5 9 5 5 0 4 1 97 26 26 L(5-9)
Halladay Aug. 8 NYY W 15-4 7 6 4 4 3 1 8 108 28 56 W(13-5)
Marcum Aug. 10 @KC W 2-1 6.2 1 0 0 0 2 4 81 22 74 W(9-4)
McGowan Aug. 11 @KC L 1-4 6.1 6 4 3 1 1 4 100 27 50 L(8-6)
Burnett Aug. 12 @KC W 4-1 7.1 3 1 1 1 3 5 90 26 70 W(6-6)
Litsch Aug. 13 @KC L 2-6 6.2 6 5 3 1 2 2 102 29 46 L(4-5)
Halladay Aug. 14 LAA W 4-1 9 5 1 1 0 1 2 99 30 74 W(14-5)
Marcum Aug. 15 LAA W 2-1 7 4 1 1 0 1 6 97 26 70 W(10-4)
McGowan Aug. 16 LAA L 3-4 6 4 4 3 1 3 7 97 25 54 L(8-7)
Burnett Aug. 17 BAL W 5-2 6.1 3 2 2 1 3 6 106 27 62 W(7-7)
Litsch Aug. 18 BAL L 3-5 6 6 5 2 1 1 4 104 26 49 L(4-6)
Halladay Aug. 19 BAL W 3-2 9 6 2 2 0 3 5 125 35 69
Marcum Aug. 20 OAK L 4-6 3 9 6 6 2 1 4 75 19 20 L(10-5)
McGowan Aug. 21 OAK L 4-6 5 5 3 3 0 4 7 95 24 48
Burnett Aug. 22 OAK L 1-4 7 4 4 1 1 3 9 102 27 65 L(7-7)
Litsch Aug. 23 @LAA W 5-4 6.1 6 3 2 1 2 2 102 28 51 W(5-6)
Halladay Aug. 24 @LAA L 0-3 9 12 3 3 0 0 5 111 36 56 L(14-6)
Marcum Aug. 25 @LAA W 9-2 6 8 2 2 0 2 1 102 25 47 W(11-5)
McGowan Aug. 26 @LAA L 1-3 7 6 3 3 1 0 6 101 27 59 L(8-8)
Burnett Aug. 27 @OAK W 6-2 7 4 1 1 1 5 3 110 29 63
Litsch Aug. 28 @OAK W 5-4 6 4 2 2 0 1 3 98 24 58
Halladay Aug. 29 @OAK L 4-5 9 7 4 4 0 6 4 124 36 55
Marcum Aug.31 SEA W 7-5 5 7 4 4 2 2 3 91 23 38 W(12-5)
McGowan Sep. 1 SEA W 2-1 8 6 1 1 0 1 3 102 29 68 W(9-8)
Burnett Sep. 2 SEA W 6-4 7 4 3 3 0 1 7 115 27 63 W(8-7)
Litsch Sep. 3 @BOS L 10-13 3.1 7 7 7 1 1 2 66 18 19 L(5-7)
Halladay Sep. 4 @BOS L 3-5 8 9 5 5 2 2 7 126 35 49 L(14-7)
Marcum Sep. 5 @BOS W 6-4 5 5 2 2 0 3 2 89 21 48
McGowan Sep. 7 @TB W 7-2 8 4 2 2 0 1 12 110 29 77 W(10-8)
Burnett Sep. 8 @TB L 4-5 8 3 1 1 1 1 8 114 28 79
Litsch Sep. 9 @TB L 2-3 5 7 3 3 3 0 5 92 22 46 L(5-8)
Halladay Sep. 10 @DET L 4-5 8.2 11 3 3 0 1 3 123 36 52
Marcum Sep. 11 NYY L 2-9 4.1 8 8 8 2 4 5 90 25 16 L(12-6)
McGowan Sep. 12 NYY L 1-4 5 3 4 4 0 3 6 99 22 48 L(10-9)
Burnett Sep. 13 NYY W 2-1 8 4 1 1 1 2 8 120 29 76
Litsch Sep. 14 BAL L 2-6 3 7 4 4 1 1 5 66 18 33 L(5-9)
Halladay Sep. 15 BAL W 8-3 7 5 1 1 0 2 2 100 25 63 W(15-7)
Marcum Sep. 16 BAL L 6-8 5 5 3 3 1 2 4 88 23 47
McGowan Sep. 17 BOS W 6-1 9 5 1 1 0 0 9 122 31 82 W(11-9)
Burnett Sep. 18 BOS W 4-3 8.2 9 3 3 1 3 11 126 36 62 W(9-7)
Litsch Sep. 19 BOS W 6-1 6.2 2 1 1 1 4 1 96 26 63 W(6-9)
Halladay Sep. 21 @NYY W 5-4 8.2 8 4 1 0 0 4 112 33 62
Marcum Sep. 22 @NYY L 11-12 3 5 1 1 0 1 2 51 15 46
McGowan Sep. 23 @NYY L 5-7 4.1 6 6 6 0 6 5 112 24 26 L(11-10)
Litsch Sep. 24 @NYY W 4-1 7.2 5 1 1 0 0 1 99 30 66 W(7-9)
Burnett Sep. 25 @BAL W 11-4 6.2 10 4 4 0 3 7 119 33 42 W(10-7)
Halladay Sep. 26 @BAL W 8-5 7 11 5 3 0 1 4 111 35 42 W(16-7)
Banks Sep. 27 @BAL L 5-8 5.1 9 5 5 1 0 1 81 25 31
McGowan Sep. 28 TB W 5-4 6 6 4 3 2 2 6 93 27 50 W(12-10)
Litsch Sep. 29 TB W 5-3 6 4 1 1 0 4 3 100 25 59
Burnett Sep. 30 TB L 5-8 5.2 8 7 7 1 2 6 105 27 29 L(10-8)
