The Tigers' Rick Porcello has always been one of those pitchers whose "true talent" (to cop to the phrase that defies digestion just as much as certain overcooked specimens of the Tango Love Pie™) has always lagged well behind his success. The righty has always been an insider's tout, more of a personality kid than a bonafide big league success--yet in the midst of upheaval in Detroit, he's still standing.And he's also thrown sixteen consecutive scoreless innings, capped the other night (6/26) by a three-hit shutout against the Texas Rangers. Hit prevention seems to be improving for Porcello, but that may not be a function of anything other the slow-roasted, crust-infested gooey goodness of random variation.
Later that same evening, Adam Wainwright, definitely in the loop for the NL Cy Young Award, racked up his third CG of the season--but it was also his first losing CG, as his team (Cardinals) could not score at all against the Dodgers' Josh Beckett, Brian Wilson, and Kenley Jansen. Final score: LA 1, St. Louis 0.By the way, 2014 is currently on pace to have 33% more 1-0 games than was the case in 2013. And the Cardinals have been in the most of these games thus far this year, a total of six 1-0 games. (They are now 4-2 in such games.)
