COMPLETE GAME VICTORIES TO CLINCH DIVISION SERIES (Updated with Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia)

In 2010, I wrote a post about pitchers who threw a complete game victory to clinch the Division Series.

Since then, Chris Carpenter, Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia have been added to the list, so it was time to update this list.

In this day and age of specialized relievers, complete games have become more rare and pitchers finishing a clinching game is even less common.

But these pitchers pulled off the feat. And two were added this year.

Let's update it.

Complete Game Division Series Clinchers

John Smoltz
1997 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3
4-1 victory against Houston Astros




Bobby Jones
2000 NEW YORK METS
Game 4
4-0 victory against San Francisco Giants




Curt Schilling
2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Game 5
2-1 victory against St. Louis Cardinals



Cole Hamels
2010 PHILADELPHIA PHLLIES
Game 3
2-0 victory against Cincinnati Reds


Cliff Lee
2010 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 5
5-1 victory against Tampa Bay Rays

Chris Carpenter

2011 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Game 5

1-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies

Justin Verlander

2012 DETROIT TIGERS

Game 5

6-0 victory against Oakland Athletics

CC Sabathia
2012 NEW YORK YANKEES 
Game 5
3-1 victory against Baltimore Orioles

The 2001 Series didn’t end with Schilling on the mound getting the last out. The series ended with a walk off single by Tony Womack.

For sticklers of details, they played the Division Series in 1981 as well and two more complete games clinched series THAT year.

Steve Rogers
1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
Game 5
3-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies


Jerry Reuss
1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 5
4-0 victory against Houston Astros

But while relievers were being used more frequently then, the whole specialization of EVERY bullpen role (and the cheapening of the save) didn’t come around until the late 1980s.

So Verlander and Sabathia did the trick this year. If they face off in the ALCS, it should be quite a battle.

Let's see if this gets updated in 2013.

Lester to the rescue!

The Sox winning streak (and pattern to the season) continues.

They are going to win a bunch, then lose a bunch.
Look unstoppable, then look awful.

And when the dust settles they will be an 84 win team out of the playoffs.

But a night like last night was just what the doctor ordered for the Red Sox. Jon Lester threw a complete game and looked solid.

AND the bullpen is totally rested for a Josh Beckett start.
They may need to go 8 today.

Well played Lester.
Let's see if we can get this to a 5 game winning streak.

Just get it to the green, Beckett.

  

COMPLETE GAME VICTORIES TO CLINCH DIVISION SERIES (Updated with Chris Carpenter)

Last year I wrote a post about pitchers who threw a complete game victory to clinch the Division Series.

In the 2010 Division Series I added Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee.

Tonight both Hamels and Lee sat in Citizens Bank Ballpark and saw Chris Carpenter put himself on the list.

Let's update it.

Complete Game Division Series Clinchers

John Smoltz
1997 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3
4-1 victory against Houston Astros




Bobby Jones
2000 NEW YORK METS
Game 4
4-0 victory against San Francisco Giants




Curt Schilling
2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Game 5
2-1 victory against St. Louis Cardinals



Cole Hamels
2010 PHILADELPHIA PHLLIES
Game 3
2-0 victory against Cincinnati Reds


Cliff Lee
2010 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 5
5-1 victory against Tampa Bay Rays

Chris Carpenter

2011 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Game 5

1-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies

The 2001 Series didn’t end with Schilling on the mound getting the last out. The series ended with a walk off single by Tony Womack.

For sticklers of details, they played the Division Series in 1981 as well and two more complete games clinched series THAT year.

Steve Rogers
1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
Game 5
3-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies


Jerry Reuss
1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 5
4-0 victory against Houston Astros

But while relievers were being used more frequently then, the whole specialization of EVERY bullpen role (and the cheapening of the save) didn’t come around until the late 1980s.

So welcome to Division Series immortality, Chris Carpenter.

And you are welcome Bobby Jones for reminding everyone of your great feat!

Did you see what happened in Arizona tonight?

Daniel Hudson was pitching for the Diamondbacks tonight against his old team, the White Sox.

He's a 24 year old pitcher going up against Edwin Jackson, the guy he was traded for.

He was throwing a shutout into the 7th, but a Paul Konerko homer made it a game and he let base runners on in the 8th and 9th.

Do you know what Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson did?
He let him pitch through it. He didn't baby him.

And now he got a complete game win and has the experience of working through his own jams.
Hudson is now 8-5 with a good 3.56 ERA and is averaging 6 2/3 innings a start.

The Diamondbacks now have a good young pitcher who they can count on to go deep into games. And they got that because THEY LET HIM PITCH!

It sounds so simple. And yet so few teams do that.

But I covered that in the last Sully Baseball video.

Good for Ron Roenicke

Good for him for getting his first win as Brewers manager.

But also good for him for not panicking nor "going by the book."

It's early in the season and everyone is soiling their pants with pitch counts. Meanwhile Yovani Gallardo chucked 8 innings of 2 hit ball in a 1-0 game. Did Roenicke go to the closer like everyone on the planet Earth is told they should do?

Nope. He let Gallardo finish it. An ace is established. Confidence is built. More wins to come.

Also good for him for employing one of the Iorg brothers.

I always confused them. Then again, I also confused the Roenickes.

Maybe that's why he hired him.

COMPLETE GAME VICTORIES TO CLINCH DIVISION SERIES (Updated with Cliff Lee)

A few days ago I wrote a post about pitchers who threw a complete game victory to clinch the Division Series.

I felt it was such a rare occurrence that it was worth noting.

Now it has happened twice in three days and Cliff Lee has added his name to the list. It just goes to show you, I shouldn't write lists like this until the round is OVER!

Let's update it.

Complete Game Division Series Clinchers

John Smoltz
1997 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3
4-1 victory against Houston Astros




Bobby Jones
2000 NEW YORK METS
Game 4
4-0 victory against San Francisco Giants




Curt Schilling
2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Game 5
2-1 victory against St. Louis Cardinals



Cole Hamels
2010 PHILADELPHIA PHLLIES
Game 3
2-0 victory against Cincinnati Reds


Cliff Lee
2010 TEXAS RANGERS
Game 5
5-1 victory against Tampa Bay Rays

The 2001 Series didn’t end with Schilling on the mound getting the last out. The series ended with a walk off single by Tony Womack.

For sticklers of details, they played the Division Series in 1981 as well and two more complete games clinched series THAT year.

Steve Rogers
1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
Game 5
3-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies


Jerry Reuss
1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 5
4-0 victory against Houston Astros

But while relievers were being used more frequently then, the whole specialization of EVERY bullpen role (and the cheapening of the save) didn’t come around until the late 1980s.

Maybe we'll update it next year if there is any new names to add.

Little side note... Cliff Lee is the first person to throw a complete game to clinch an AMERICAN LEAGUE Division Series.

ChaChing this off season!

Complete Game Victories to Clinch the Division Series

Cole Hamels gave the Division Series a wonderful exclamation point and helped the Phillies continue to serve notice:

They intend to roll over the National League.

Last night, Hamels gave the Phillies their second complete game shutout in 3 games. (Granted, Halladay’s was more impressive.)

But a clinching complete game shutout is nonetheless pretty dang cool.
And RARE.

In this day and age of high paid closer, the clinching pitch is almost always thrown by the closer regardless of the situation. (The Yankees didn’t NEED to bring in Rivera the other day against the Twins.)

You might see the occasional World Series clinched with a complete game (a la Josh Beckett in 2003) or the LCS (a la Jose Contreras in 2005) but throwing a complete game to clinch a Division Series didn’t seem all that common.

So the staff at Sully Baseball looked it up, and since the Division Series became an annual event in 1995, there have been only three other times when a pitcher threw a complete game to clinch the first round.

Complete Game Division Series Clinchers

John Smoltz
1997 ATLANTA BRAVES
Game 3
4-1 victory against Houston Astros




Bobby Jones
2000 NEW YORK METS
Game 4
4-0 victory against San Francisco Giants




Curt Schilling
2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Game 5
2-1 victory against St. Louis Cardinals



Cole Hamels
2010 PHILADELPHIA PHLLIES
Game 3
2-0 victory against Cincinnati Reds

The 2001 Series didn’t end with Schilling on the mound getting the last out. The series ended with a walk off single by Tony Womack.

For sticklers of details, they played the Division Series in 1981 as well and two more complete games clinched series THAT year.

Steve Rogers
1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
Game 5
3-0 victory against Philadelphia Phillies


Jerry Reuss
1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Game 5
4-0 victory against Houston Astros

But while relievers were being used more frequently then, the whole specialization of EVERY bullpen role (and the cheapening of the save) didn’t come around until the late 1980s.

So Cole Hamels has a complete game clincher to go along with his NLCS MVP, World Series MVP and World Series ring.

And gets to join select company.

I’ve heard this song before…

The Giants finished the regular season as Division Champs and got home field advantage in the Division Series. And drew the Wild Card team from the East.

They won Game 1 with a complete game shutout from their ace and looked like they were cruising in Game 2.

Everyone had their eyes set for the League Championship Series… and maybe if luck with have it a match up against Dusty Baker’s squad.

And then before anyone knew what was happening, they lost Game 2.

Am I talking about the Giants loss to Atlanta tonight?
Or am I talking about the 2003 Division Series against the Marlins?

Remember that year?
The Giants had Jason Schmidt throw a complete game shutout (against Josh Beckett no less) and San Francisco was off to the races.

Then the Giants were up 4-1 in Game 2… and they fell apart.

Juan Encanarcion homered to tie the game and Marquis Grissom’s error opened up the flood gates.

They went back to Florida and lost game 3 in extra innings even though they had the lead with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 10th… and of course lost game 4 when J. T. Snow was thrown out at home trying to tie the game.

Why am I bringing this up?

Have your guard up, Giants fans… these scenarios don’t end well.

I’ve seen it before.

Lincecum picks up the gauntlet

My dad and I were talking about the Giants game this afternoon. My dad said "people are going to be expecting Lincecum to throw a no hitter on the heels of Halladay."

Well, he took care of THAT thought with the first batter.
I knew my dad was AT the game and when I saw he let up a lead off double, I thought "Oh man... please don't get rocked."

He didn't throw a no hitter... but DAMN he did the next best thing.
A DOMINATING complete game shut out?
2 hits, 1 walk and 14 STRIKEOUTS!!!

Now is there a baseball fan ALIVE who doesn't want to see a Lincecum/Halladay match up?

You could argue it was more impressive than Halladay's game.
You'd be wrong, but you could argue it.