Ian Kennedy only lasted six innings, but they were a strong six innings as he and the Diamondbacks beat the Padres 3-1. Kennedy walked one and struck out nine, but threw a ton of pitches, 98 when he came out of the game. He wasn’t wild, as 70 of them went for strikes. Since he averaged three strikes per batter (to just one ball), it seems the Padres must have fouled off a number of pitches. Kennedy now owns a 23-4 record since the start of the 2011 season.
Chris Capuano turned his strikeouts up a notch as he Ks seven Pirates in 5 1/3 innings Thursday night as the Dodgers squeak by Pittsburgh 3-2. Unlike his first start, Capuano did not walk a batter. That gives him 11 K and five walks in 10 innings. I watched a bit of the game early, and the Pirates announcers were concerned that their team was taking too many pitches for strikes. I wonder if they went into the game expecting Chris to be wild? That backfired on them.
Matt Kemp went 2 for 4 and is in the interesting position of owning a .400 OPB without having drawn a walk. In fact, his batting average (.414) is higher than his OBP (.400) due to a sacrifice fly.
With the usual left coast results – 3-2, 3-1 – the NL has now officially sunk to deadball era levels of run-scoring. The Senior Circuit is limping along at 7.7 runs per game, which looks right in line with, say, 1914.
Meanwhile, the DH is helping keep the AL afloat at 8.5 runs per game. There was a slugfest at Target Field yesterday, of all places.
Overall offense in the majors is down, of course, at 8.1 runs per game. Offense goes down every year. I think it’s a law of nature.
Folks will say it’s the weather or a small sample or whatever. If the trends weren’t right in line with powerful forces operating in the game over the past several years, I might agree. But all we’re seeing is the predictable result of an ever-expanding strike zone and generally less favorable parks for the hitters.