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Waino-Wandy one of best pitchers’ duels

The Cardinals and Astros hooked up in a pitchers’ duel last night that was more reminiscent of low-scoring affairs at old Busch Stadium and the Astrodome back in the 1980s than of the bandbox ball of the new millennium. The principle proponents, Adam Wainwright and Wandy Rodriguez, were both so sharp that we wondered if their duel was the best combined pitching performance of the Cardinals’ season. According to FIGS (the newer version), here’s where they rank:

Date Cardinal Pitcher BB SO HR BF FIGS Opposing Pitcher Tm BB SO HR BF FIGS Avg
7/1 Adam Wainwright 3 12 0 36 81 Matt Cain SFG 3 3 0 28 45 63
7/29 Joel Pineiro 2 7 0 30 60 Clayton Kershaw LAD 2 7 0 29 58 59
6/7 Joel Pineiro 1 4 0 26 49 Ubaldo Jimenez COL 1 9 0 29 66 57
7/9 Joel Pineiro 0 5 0 28 58 Manny Parra MIL 1 7 0 26 55 56
5/25 Chris Carpenter 0 10 0 25 61 Yovani Gallardo MIL 4 6 0 30 51 56
4/24 Adam Wainwright 1 6 0 29 59 Ryan Dempster CHC 1 6 0 25 51 55
4/29 Adam Wainwright 5 2 0 29 38 Javier Vazquez ATL 1 8 0 33 72 55
8/25 Adam Wainwright 0 5 0 27 56 Wandy Rodriguez HOU 1 6 0 25 51 53
7/18 Adam Wainwright 3 8 1 30 44 Danny Haren ARI 2 8 0 30 62 53
6/25 Chris Carpenter 0 5 0 26 54 Johan Santana NYM 3 3 0 32 51 52
8/2 Adam Wainwright 0 5 0 29 60 Bud Norris HOU 4 5 0 27 44 52
5/24 Joel Pineiro 0 3 0 29 56 Brian Bannister KCR 2 4 0 27 48 52
7/3 Joel Pineiro 0 1 0 29 52 Homer Bailey CIN 2 5 0 28 52 52
7/28 Adam Wainwright 1 5 0 33 65 Chad Billingsley LAD 6 5 0 27 38 51
4/12 Kyle Lohse 0 4 0 30 60 Wandy Rodriguez HOU 3 4 0 25 42 51
6/9 Chris Carpenter 1 3 0 25 45 Josh Johnson FLA 1 5 0 28 55 50
6/18 Joel Pineiro 0 4 0 27 54 Rick Porcello DET 2 3 0 27 46 50
7/24 Joel Pineiro 1 3 0 23 42 J.A. Happ PHI 0 6 0 27 58 50
7/22 Chris Carpenter 2 5 0 33 61 Roy Oswalt HOU 1 4 1 27 38 50
7/27 Chris Carpenter 2 2 0 30 49 Randy Wolf LAD 2 4 0 28 50 49

Wainwright, who is having a career year (he is now fifth in the majors in Pitching Runs Created with 106), is all over the list of best games. For his part, Rodriguez made the top 20 twice. And tonight’s Astro starter, Roy Oswalt ranks 19th with his tete-a-tete with Chris Carpenter, who pitches in tomorrow’s series-ending matinee. Here’s hoping that if Oswalt repeats WRod’s performance, Joel Pineiro makes like Wainwright did last night, too. Or like he himself has done a lot this season.

Update: Acting on the sage suggestion of reader DaveBug (@_) to determine the best games by the highest lower FIGS of the two pitchers ("
81/45 doesn’t feel like much of a duel to me, but 60/58 is amazing"), we’ve re-ranked the best games accordingly. We agree with DaveBug: These are better "pitchers’ duels." The Waino-Wandy tilt moves up to seventh place:

Date Cardinal Pitcher BB SO HR BF FIGS Opposing Pitcher Tm BB SO HR BF FIGS Rk
7/29 Joel Pineiro 2 7 0 30 60 Clayton Kershaw LAD 2 7 0 29 58 58
7/9 Joel Pineiro 0 5 0 28 58 Manny Parra MIL 1 7 0 26 55 55
7/3 Joel Pineiro 0 1 0 29 52 Homer Bailey CIN 2 5 0 28 52 52
5/25 Chris Carpenter 0 10 0 25 61 Yovani Gallardo MIL 4 6 0 30 51 51
6/25 Chris Carpenter 0 5 0 26 54 Johan Santana NYM 3 3 0 32 51 51
4/24 Adam Wainwright 1 6 0 29 59 Ryan Dempster CHC 1 6 0 25 51 51
8/25 Adam Wainwright 0 5 0 27 56 Wandy Rodriguez HOU 1 6 0 25 51 51
6/7 Joel Pineiro 1 4 0 26 49 Ubaldo Jimenez COL 1 9 0 29 66 49
7/27 Chris Carpenter 2 2 0 30 49 Randy Wolf LAD 2 4 0 28 50 49
5/24 Joel Pineiro 0 3 0 29 56 Brian Bannister KCR 2 4 0 27 48 48
6/23 Joel Pineiro 1 1 0 29 48 Livan Hernandez NYM 3 3 0 30 48 48
8/9 Joel Pineiro 0 6 1 28 47 Zach Duke PIT 1 2 0 28 49 47
6/26 Adam Wainwright 4 5 0 32 52 Glen Perkins MIN 0 3 0 24 46 46
4/8 Todd Wellemeyer 2 3 0 28 48 Zach Duke PIT 2 4 0 26 46 46
6/18 Joel Pineiro 0 4 0 27 54 Rick Porcello DET 2 3 0 27 46 46
5/8 Joel Pineiro 0 3 0 25 48 Johnny Cueto CIN 2 3 0 27 46 46
6/9 Chris Carpenter 1 3 0 25 45 Josh Johnson FLA 1 5 0 28 55 45
4/25 Mitchell Boggs 1 3 0 25 45 Sean Marshall CHC 1 5 0 25 49 45
5/27 Todd Wellemeyer 1 5 0 23 45 Manny Parra MIL 5 6 0 30 48 45
8/11 Mitchell Boggs 4 6 0 29 49 Justin Lehr CIN 1 1 0 27 45 45

 

This entry was posted by Pip on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at 5:22 pm and is filed under by the numbers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Waino-Wandy one of best pitchers’ duels”

  1. dave Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:06 pm

    I think rather than average, I’d have ranked by ‘highest low number’. 81/45 doesn’t feel like much of a duel to me, but 60/58 is amazing.

  2. dave Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    Ah, tied for 4th…I wonder what the most reasonable tie breaker would be. Higher highest number? (Essentially the previous ranking of ‘average’ would break the tie.) That’d put this recent game in 6th, I think.

    Or maybe least difference between the two pitching performances (indicating, again, closest-matched masterpieces). It looks like Waino/Wandy is 5th, that way.

  3. Pip Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    I displayed the scores rounded to nearest whole number; the Waino-Wandy game is actually tied for 6th (FIGS: 50.93).

    I like your Highest Lower Number approach best, I think.

  4. Pip Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:56 am

    Updated after the Pineiro-Oswalt duel:

    Date Cardinal Pitcher BB SO HR S BF FIGS Opposing Pitcher Tm BB SO HR BF FIGS Score
    7/29 Joel Pineiro 2 7 0 30 60 Clayton Kershaw LAD 2 7 0 29 58 58.00
    7/9 Joel Pineiro 0 5 0 28 58 Manny Parra MIL 1 7 0 26 55 54.89
    8/26 Joel Pineiro 0 5 0 29 60 Roy Oswalt HOU 1 3 0 30 54 54.44
    7/3 Joel Pineiro 0 1 0 29 52 Homer Bailey CIN 2 5 0 28 52 51.56
    5/25 Chris Carpenter 0 10 0 25 61 Yovani Gallardo MIL 4 6 0 30 51 51.11
    6/25 Chris Carpenter 0 5 0 26 54 Johan Santana NYM 3 3 0 32 51 50.96
    4/24 Adam Wainwright 1 6 0 29 59 Ryan Dempster CHC 1 6 0 25 51 50.93
    8/25 Adam Wainwright 0 5 0 27 56 Wandy Rodriguez HOU 1 6 0 25 51 50.93
    6/7 Joel Pineiro 1 4 0 26 49 Ubaldo Jimenez COL 1 9 0 29 66 49.11
    7/27 Chris Carpenter 2 2 0 30 49 Randy Wolf LAD 2 4 0 28 50 48.89
    5/24 Joel Pineiro 0 3 0 29 56 Brian Bannister KCR 2 4 0 27 48 48.00
    6/23 Joel Pineiro 1 1 0 29 48 Livan Hernandez NYM 3 3 0 30 48 47.78
    8/9 Joel Pineiro 0 6 1 28 47 Zach Duke PIT 1 2 0 28 49 46.67
    6/26 Adam Wainwright 4 5 0 32 52 Glen Perkins MIN 0 3 0 24 46 46.22
    4/8 Todd Wellemeyer 2 3 0 28 48 Zach Duke PIT 2 4 0 26 46 46.22
    6/18 Joel Pineiro 0 4 0 27 54 Rick Porcello DET 2 3 0 27 46 46.00
    5/8 Joel Pineiro 0 3 0 25 48 Johnny Cueto CIN 2 3 0 27 46 46.00
    6/9 Chris Carpenter 1 3 0 25 45 Josh Johnson FLA 1 5 0 28 55 45.37
    4/25 Mitchell Boggs 1 3 0 25 45 Sean Marshall CHC 1 5 0 25 49 45.37
    5/27 Todd Wellemeyer 1 5 0 23 45 Manny Parra MIL 5 6 0 30 48 45.15

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