2015: COMPLETE GAMES #39, #40, #41, #42, #43

The "loss column" re-emreged in the CG listings over the past week: three of the last five CGs resulted in losses for the pitchers who went the distance:

--The Yankees' Michael Pineda (#39, 6/28), a 3-1 loss to the Astros;
--The Nationals' Max Scherzer (#41, 7/2), a 2-1 loss to the Braves;
--The Indians' Cody Anderson (#34, 7/4), a 1-0 loss to the Pirates.

The winners:

--The Mariners' Mike Montgomery (#40, 6/30), a 5-0 win over the Padres;
--The Red Sox' Clay Buchholz (#42, 7/4), a 6-1 win over the Astros.

Montgomery's game was the best of the bunch by all available measures: least runs allowed (0), least hits allowed (1), QMAX "S" score (1), game score (88). It was his second consecutive CG shutout, a feat he was unable to continue yesterday against the A's (though he did get the win as the M's edged the A's 2-1; Montgomery pitched only 5 1/3 IP as the sometimes shaky Mariner bullpen held it together to close it out).

In 2014, there were 60 CGs as of July 4th. The current "adjusted projection" for CGs in 2015, taking into account the tendency for more CGs after the All Star-Break, is now at 94.