(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
This past weekend of interleague series around baseball certainly yielded its share of interesting matchups, wild finishes, and crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
However, it was something that happened twice in the three days of games—on Friday and then again on Sunday—that was perhaps most worth noting. Something that was much more prevalent in the days long before interleague play.
That something: a complete game thrown by the starting pitcher.
On both Friday and Sunday, there were four complete games thrown by different pitchers.
Friday, those who went the distance were: the Diamondbacks' Dan Haren, the Giants' Tim Lincecum, the Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez, and the Royals' Luke Hochevar.
Sunday's complete game hurlers: the Orioles' Brad Bergesen, the Marlins' Josh Johnson, the Giants' Matt Cain, and finally, the Indians' Cliff Lee in a masterful three-hit shutout in the ESPN Sunday Night game.
Notice who is not mentioned above—the Blue Jays' Roy Halladay, who has led the majors in complete games the past two seasons, and the Royals' Zack Greinke, who currently leads the majors with five. Halladay did pitch on Friday night, but left the game early and will miss his normal turn in the Jays' rotation this week.
In addition to this past weekend's surge in pitchers going the distance, we have seen a noticeable rise in complete games (CGs) thrown throughout the league so far in 2009.
There have been 67 CGs in 70 days since this season began. If that pace continues the rest of the season, the total number of CGs will be right around 170. Last year's total was 136. In 2007, the number was even lower at 112. That would mean a 25 percent increase from '08 to '09, and a 52 percent increase from '07 to '09.
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