Monday, April 20, 2015

2015: COMPLETE GAME #2

It's one of those ersatz CGs, which quite probably befits the event's asymptotic meaning.l

There are, as we can figure it on the back of our self-moistening envelope, precisely three types of ersatz CGs:

1--Those CGs that result from a game being called in the fifth, sixth or seventh innings with one or more starters still in the game;

2--Those CGs where a pitcher is in the game at its conclusion but was (a la Sam McDowell, way back in the late sixties, if our mind isn't getting overtaxed by an assault from the lower chakras...) temporarily removed to another defensive position--and this includes the scenario where the uber-temporary reliever  doesn't manage to record an out;

3--Those CGs where the losing pitcher is bat for in the ninth inning when his team is on the road, and who winds up having pitched the entire game because his team doesn't rally to tie the score (at which point, of course, the starting pitcher in question will no longer have a CG) and the game ends.

#3 is what 2015's CG #2 turned out to be-- a solid but losing performance by the Reds' Mike Leake, who allowed just four hits to the St. Louis Cardinals over eight innings but wound up on the short end of a 2-1 decision.

One consolation for Leake: it was all over in a hurry. Thanks mostly to low pitch count totals for both  starters, the second Sunday night baseball telecast (and the second in a row to feature the Cardinals, who are now 2-0 on Sunday nights in 2015...) only took two hours and two minutes to play.