They say Pedro outdueled Tim Lincecum. I say they don't know what they're talking about.
The Phillies beat the Giants 2-1 last night (as the Rockies lost as well) and everyone seems to clamor that Pedro Martinez out-dueled Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.
Hellooooo!!! Lincecum allowed two runs in the game, struck out 11 batters and gave up four hits. Martinez allowed one run (a homer), struck out nine and gave up five hits.
Here’s the thing, at any point in which a pitcher gets past 10 strikeouts — I’m being serious here — there’s no such thing as out-dueling him unless the comparing pitcher goes no-hitter or perfect game. I may be a little biased here being a Giants fan, but I think there’s cause to pause when we jump to this out-dueled argument.
My boy Ceirin pointed out to me a very simple flawed piece of that argument: The two lineups are astronomically different in terms of talent. One team has sluggers (the Phillies), the other has pluggers. So again, for the Freak to throw down 11 strikeouts and give up one homer against the defending world series champions, he wasn’t out-dueled. He kicked ass.
The National League Wildcard race as of Sept. 4, 2009.
I’m not a Giants fan, but I completely agree. That wasn’t a game lost by the pitcher — it was lost by the offense.