Nationals starting pitchers set franchise record for scoreless innings
Everyone knew the Washington Nationals would have one of the best starting rotations in the league coming into the season, but no one expected this.
The starting pitchers set a new franchise record Thursday, tossing 41 1/3 straight scoreless innings over the last couple starts, according to Jacob Emert of MLB.com. The previous record of 39 1/3 innings was set by the Montreal Expos in 1981.
In fact, if you wanted to find the last Nationals’ starter to give up a run, you would have to go back to June 18. Since then, every starting pitcher has put up zeroes.
It all began with rookie Joe Ross. After giving up a run in the second inning June 19, Ross reeled off 5 1/3 scoreless frames before departing. Not wanting to be topped by the rookie, the rest of the starters followed suit.
| Pitcher | Innings | Hits | Runs | Earned Runs | Walks | Strikeouts | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Ross | 7 1/3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2.66 |
| Max Scherzer | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1.76 |
| Gio Gonzalez | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4.41 |
| Stephen Strasburg | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5.9 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.42 |
| Doug Fister | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4.15 |
Not surprisingly, the team is 6-0 over that period. They’ve outscored their opponents 31-5, as Emert notes.
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Since Fister did not allow a run during Thursday’s start, the streak lives on. Max Scherzer is slated to take the mound Friday, and, given his recent numbers, he’s a safe bet to extend the streak a few innings.
Some questioned whether the Nationals needed to spend on Scherzer coming into the season given their already potent rotation. After this run, I think we get it now.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
