Around the League

No Red Sox game last night, so I’ll take a quick look around MLB at the quality start results in the limited slate of games.

There were 6 games in the National League last night, and a total of 7 QS. Only the Padres/Dodgers game lacked quality yesterday, even though the final was 3-2 Padres, in large part to 4 scoreless relief innings by the winners and 4 1/3 scoreless innings by the Dodgers’ bullpen until another George Sherrill walk-off loss. In the two of the other games, both starters made quality starts. In all three games with one quality starter, the team with quality won!

In the American League Thursday, it is not surprising that cellar-dwellars Baltimore and Kansas City neither has a quality start in their matchup. Neither did Oakland v. Texas. In the other 3 matchups, the winners all received quality starts.

Star Start of the Day

THE BEST OF THE DAY

So, 6 games with one quality start – all these teams won. The best start of the night was by one-time Sox prospect, Florida’s Anibel Sanchez, who tossed a complete game one-hitter against the Giants. He gave up only 1 base on balls and struck out 8. Sanchez gets the Quality Start Report’s Star Start of the Day award for 7/29/10.

A LOOK AT THE SOX TONIGHT: GAME 103

Jon Lester goes for Boston tonight

Tonight’s matchup in Boston pits near-perfecto Armando (Gallarraga) and once-no-no Jon Lester as the Sox return home after a long West Coast trip. Lester has 13 QS in 20 starts this year, including 6 in his last 7. Up-and-down Gallarraga has started 12 times for the Tigers and only had 4 quality starts (or as many as Pirate Charlie Morton, owner of a 9.35 ERA on the season).

Given all that, I would expect lefty Lester to be the more likely to toss a QS tonight and get the Sox another win.

Back for more

For a number of reasons, I put this blog on hold for a while, like the entire 2009 season and the first 4 months of 2010. But today, July 29th, 2010, I feel like starting back up again. Welcome to “The Quality Starts Report, The 2nd Generation”.

What to do now? Well, lets take a snapshot of the league leaders in Quality Starts (QS).

Individual Leaders thru July 28:

1. Josh Johnson, FLA – 19 QS in 21 starts
2. Adam Wainwright, STL and Felix Hernandez, SEA – 18 QS in 22 starts
3. CC Sabathia, NYY; Tim Hudson, ATL; Roy Halladay, PHI; Jared Weaver, LAA – 17 QS each

Impressive list. Josh Johnson has been lights out all season, with a 1.72 ERA.

Team Leaders thru July 28:

1. Chicago Cubs 63
2. St. Louis Cardinals 62
3. San Francisco Giants 62
4. Tampa Bay Rays 62
5. Chicago White Sox and Oakland A’s 61

The Rays and White Sox are both playoff contenders in the AL, while St. Louis is tied for the lead in the Central and the Giants are in front of the NL Wild Card race.

The NYY are tied for 9th with 58 QS and have the league’s best record. The three worst teams in the league, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, are all at the bottom of the list with 43.

What about the Red Sox? Tied for 9th overall in the league in total QS. Six starters have recorded quality starts this season.

• John Lackey (14 QS in 21 starts)
• Jon Lester (13 QS in 20)
• Clay Buchholz (10 QS in 17)
• Tim Wakefield (9 QS in 16)
• Daisuke Matsuzaka (8 QS in 14)
• Josh Beckett (4 QS in 10)

Felix Doubront (3 starts) and Scott Atchison (1 start) did not reach the quality start level.

Last Game: #102

Josh Beckett threw 7 innings, allowing only 3 earned runs, in his second start back from the disabled list. This was his first QS since April 26th.

So, hey, that is where we are right now…. good, maybe even, a quality start to the re-launch of the site.

Sox Lose Battle of Starters to Rays

The Sox only received 2 quality starts in the 2008 ALCS. Game 1′s gem from DiceK and Lester’s valiant effort in Game 7. No quality in between. Interestingly, the Rays also got quality starts in these 2 games and the teams split the two games. 

The Rays starters also tossed quality starts in games 3 (Garza), 4 (Sonnenstine), and 5 (Kazmir) and went 2-1 in those games, and would have won all three if not for some fortutious Red Sox bounces in the 2nd largest comeback in a playoff game ever. 

More of the post-mortem on the 2008 Red Sox will come soon.

Game 143: Lester Owns Rays

Jon Lester added to his resume another outstanding, dominant performance last night at the Fens, going 7 2/3 innings and allowing no Rays to score. The 3-0 win by the Sox move them to only a half game out in the AL East race. Lester lowered his ERA to 3.23 while securing his 18th quality start of the season and 5th in 6 games. According to this morning’s Boston Globe, Lester has started a league-high 7 games that have ended in shutouts of the opponent. In reference to Lester’s ownership of the Rays, he is undefeated in 7 starts, including 3-0 and a 0.90 ERA this season.

Here’s the QS Bottom-Line:

Game 143	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
JL #31	7.2	6	0	0	3	9	0	119-74	3.23

The End Result:
When Lester needed it, he was able to get strikeouts or a groundball. He controlled Rocco Baldelli, whiffing him 3 times. The end result is that Lester has again stepped up when the Sox needed him too, contributing an ‘ace-like’ effort to propel them within sniffing distance of the top of the division.

Red Sox Record:	85-58
Total Quality Starts:	74
Record in QS games:

Tampa starter Edwin Jackson also gave his team a quality start (7 IP, 3 ER), the first by a Ray pitcher at Fenway in 7 tries this year. So the Sox improve in their head-to-head quality start record against the Rays (now 3-1).

A Look Ahead:

Game 2 – Scott Kazmir (11 QS, 48%) v. DiceK (13 QS, 52%). Advantage: Sox

And down the stretch we come

Tonight will be the 456th consecutive regular season game the Red Sox have sold out, breaking the previous record of 455 held by the Cleveland Indians. I was at #455, when the Sox bunted their way to victory over the O’s. Here is the Quality Start Report look at where we are with only 20 games left in the season.

The Sox v. Rays series starts tonight. Sox trail by only 1.5 games in the AL East. Interesting, the teams are tied with 73 quality starts on the season to date (note: Rays have played one fewer game).

• Game 1 – Edwin Jackson (13 QS, 48% of starts) v. Jon Lester (17 QS, 59%). Advantage: Sox
• Game 2 – Scott Kazmir (11 QS, 48%) v. DiceK (13 QS, 52%). Advantage: Sox
• Game 3- Andy Sonnestine (10 QS, 36%) v. Josh Beckett (14 QS, 54%). Advantage: Sox

Jon Lester faces Edwin Jackson at the start of the critical series at Fenway tonight!

The winner of this series will be the one that gets the best starting pitching. Coming in, the Red Sox look to have the advantage and the momentum. The Sox are fortunate to miss James Shields, who has 20 quality starts (69%), the best number on both staffs.

Head-to-head in 2008, the Sox and Rays have split 12 games, with the home team winning every single game. The Sox have had 7 quality starts in 12 games, the Rays only 4. The Rays have won each game with a quality start, including beating the Sox 3 times when the Sox’ starter has gotten a quality start. The Rays have not gotten a single quality start in six games at Fenway (3 by the Sox).

In addition to this series at Fenway, the Sox and Rays will face off next week for 3 more at the Trop. Here is a look at the remaining games on the schedule for each team:

• Rays (21): home – Bos (3), Min (4). away – Bos (3), NYY (3), Bal (4), Det (4)
• Sox (20): home – Rays (3), Tor (4), Cle (4), NYY (3). away – Rays (3), Tor (3)

Analysis – The Sox have struggled with at the Trop (0-6) and against Toronto (4-7) all season long. So, this combination of 10 games, half of those remaining, is ominous. The Rays have struggled at Fenway (0-6) and against the NYY (6-9), but have dominated the Orioles (11-3) and Detroit (3-0). While past performance may not be indicative of future results, it would seem that the Rays have a more favorable schedule than the Sox as both clubs are battling it out for the AL East crown. The advantage goes to either team that gets to 4 wins in the last 6 between the 2 clubs.

Personally, I am looking forward to tonight at the Fens with personal favorite Lester taking the ball for the Sox and . Both Lester and the Rays starter Edwin Jackson have 4 quality starts in his last 5 starts.

Baseball is my distraction

Down and out for 2008

While I will always admit that sports-wise, my first love is always baseball. But the past eight years, around this time of year, the Patriots have gotten me pretty revved up.

But because of this: Brady out for season - I will return to my original love, the Red Sox, to lead me through this setback.

It is only appropriate that good-vibes Jon Lester is on the mound tonight to help out the Nation. Let’s go Jon!