Thank you, Ubaldo Jimenez.
At the very moment I was expressing my disdain for the no-hitter, Jimenez was finishing off a paradigm for my argument.
Jimenez and his blazing speedball registered the first no-no in Rockie history last night in a 4-0 whitewash of the Braves. Complete game shutouts are accomplishments in and of themselves. That Atlanta didn't reach safely via a hit is really just statistical noise, noteworthy only because we note it.
It's not as if Jimenez set the Braves down in order for nine innings -- far from it. He surrendered six walks. (He also balked a runner to second.) He certainly had to be a little lucky that none of them crossed the plate. Moreover, he also needed some defensive heroics to keep the Braves out of the hit column.
Jimenez's achievement will go into the record books for posterity to admire, but was his performance even the best of the day? How would you compare it to the work of Roy Oswalt, who shut down the Cubs in Wrigley on five hits in seven innings while walking none and striking out six? I'd give Jimenez the edge, but only because he gave relievers the night off. How about Jaime Garcia, who goose-egged the Mets on two walks and one single in seven innings? Or Johan Santana, whose seven innings against the Cards included just four hits and one walk, but nine strikeouts? Or Livan Hernandez, a complete game, four-hit shutout winner over Milwaukee, who walked two and struck out three? In terms of total bases per inning, Garcia outclasses Jimenez. For runners on base per nine, Hernandez takes the trophy. In terms of domination, Santana's strikeout per frame give him the best mark.
Regardless, the fact that we can name four pitchers who pitched about as well as Jimenez on the same day indicates that there was nothing extraordinary about his performance. As Einstein pointed out, not everything that's counted, counts.
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A short addendum to the Mets-Cards extravaganza, won by NY 2-1 in 20. The star-studded Mets lineup not only shot blanks through 17 turns at bat, but managed just two runs in the last three frames against non-major league pitching. It's one game -- really two-plus -- but it does not bode well for the Metropolitans.
On the other hand, Tony LaRussa is sometimes too clever by half. He pulled relief pitchers in mid-inning with no one in scoring position four times after the ninth in order to leverage a small lefty-right advantage, leaving himself out of professional pitching three innings before the end of the game. By the time shortstop Felipe Lopez tossed the 18th and Kyle Lohse staffed left field, LaRussa had reduced the red birds' chances of winning to near zero.
The Cardinals are the popular choice for Central division champs, and I wouldn't bet against this franchise, but they'd better find another hitter after Superman and Matt Holliday. I guess Ryan Ludwick, a .271/340/.489 lifetime hitter with 59 homers the last two seasons, provides some pop, but beyond him the back seat in this road trip looks mostly empty. That's exactly the stars and scrubs approach that landed the Mets in doggy-poo last year.
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