Mets - Brewers; 08/01/07 IGT

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Yeah. I prolly woulda firebombed Randolph myself last night had I the time. But he done good.

Hopefully Thrilledge makes the next decision even harder.

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: Got to applaud Manny Parra. I haven't seen a bailout like this in ages.

That was brilliant to watch,not quite Pedro 99 but a super effort.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Greatest bailout ever was this.

The Yankees gassed their pen in a 14-inning game the night before, and Neil Allen is all they have available in the pen the next day. Rookie Al Leiter gives up a leadoff hit and comes up hurt, and Allen comes on in relief, and goes the distance. I think the rules at the time credited him with a complete game and a shutout, despite him not getting the start. Maybe not. The records now, though, give him the shutout, but not the complete game.

[Benjamin Grimm]

A relief pitcher can get a shutout? A shutout doesn't have to be a complete game?

Both of those are new to me.

It's weird to think that Neil Allen relieved Al Leiter. It seems like an anachronism somehow, based on the years that each was with the Mets.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: A relief pitcher can get a shutout? A shutout doesn't have to be a complete game? Both of those are new to me. It's weird to think that Neil Allen relieved Al Leiter. It seems like an anachronism somehow, based on the years that each was with the Mets.

Leiter hadn't recorded an out, so I guess it is a complete game.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, but to pitch a complete game you don't have to be the only one to get an out, you have to be the only pitcher.

Let's say a starter gets pulled from the game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. The tying run is on base.

The relief pitcher comes in and (BOOM!) gives up a walkoff homer.

Our starter was the only pitcher who recorded any outs, but I certainly wouldn't call that a complete game. He walked off the mound and somebody else came in.

This reminds me of Babe Ruth pitching a perfect game in relief of Ernie Shore way back in the day. I think that was credited at the time as a no-hitter, but not as a shutout or complete game. But I'm not sure of that.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, the stats show that it was a shutout, but not a complete game, so it may make sense.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Official rules say:

]10.18 Shutouts A shutout is a statistic credited to a pitcher who allows no runs in a game. No pitcher shall be credited with pitching a shutout unless he pitches the complete game, or unless he enters the game with none out before the opposing team has scored in the first inning, puts out the side without a run scoring and pitches the rest of the game without allowing a run. When two or more pitchers combine to pitch a shutout, the league statistician shall make a notation to that effect in the league's official pitching records.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Conflict management

Yost's rebuke prompts irate defense

By TOM HAUDRICOURT

thaudricourt@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Aug. 2, 2007

The altercation in the Milwaukee Brewers' dugout Thursday afternoon at Miller Park wasn't a dispute between manager Ned Yost and catcher Johnny Estrada, as it appeared when captured by a television camera.

Johnny Estrada walks past Ned Yost in the eighth inning. They had exchanged heated words an inning earlier.

What actually happened was that infielder Tony Graffanino, then Estrada, came to the defense of a teammate who they thought had been unfairly singled out by Yost for poor play.

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel later in the day, Yost confirmed that Graffanino and Estrada were defending a teammate. Yost said it was unfortunate the incident was being interpreted by some as a problem between him and Estrada.

"Nothing could be farther from the truth," Yost said. "For Johnny Estrada to be portrayed as the villain in this, as somebody who instigated it, is not even close. To be honest, Johnny stepped up to protect his teammates."

The dugout incident occurred in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Brewers' 12-4 loss to the New York Mets. One of the cameras from the New York television broadcast showed Estrada and Yost yelling at each other while being separated by coaches Dale Sveum and Mike Maddux and players Ben Sheets, Dave Bush and Graffanino.

What the cameras didn't show was the beginning of the argument, when Graffanino complained to Yost about what he considered unnecessarily harsh comments to one of the players. In the top of the inning, the Brewers surrendered three runs, all charged to reliever Carlos Villanueva, with shortstop J.J. Hardy muffing a grounder in the hole by Lastings Milledge that was ruled a hit and an error.

Yost admitted that he castigated his players for not playing with enough intensity and focus but said he didn't mean to single out one player. It was interpreted that way by Graffanino, however, and Estrada then joined the fray to back both Graffanino and his other teammate.

"That's what happened," Yost said. "I was upset with the way we were playing, not just in that game but over the last 10 days. I was frustrated; everybody was frustrated. It was my frustration boiling over to the team."

Then, referring to Graffanino and Estrada, Yost added, "To their credit, they said something about it."

The Brewers, who led the Chicago Cubs by 7� games in the NL Central on June 30, stumbled through a 2-6 trip to Cincinnati and St. Louis last week, losing four times in the opponents' final at-bat. After returning home and claiming a stirring 13-inning victory over the Mets Tuesday night on Geoff Jenkins' walk-off home run, the Brewers absorbed an 8-5 defeat Wednesday.

That setback erased the last of the Brewers' margin over the Cubs, dropping them a percentage point behind Chicago in the division race. Both teams lost Thursday, with the Cubs bowing to Philadelphia, 10-6.

After the game, the players involved in the incident either declined comment or said they didn't see what happened.

"Nothing really happened," said Graffanino, who joked that players were debating which gift to buy for upcoming baby showers and children's birthdays.

"It's getting blown out of proportion. We're not playing like we're capable of playing. That's all it boils down to. If we play like this, what do we deserve? If we play like we're capable of playing, we'll see."

Veteran outfielder Geoff Jenkins said frustrations sometimes lead to heated words and emotions reaching a boiling point.

"Any time you lose games, it's frustrating," he said. "We'll stick together. We'll be fine."

General manager Doug Melvin said he spoke with Yost about the confrontation after the game and saw no reason for disciplinary measures against any player.

"There's some frustration within our ballclub," Melvin said. "A couple of players get upset, then the manager gets upset. We saw a little of that exploding today. It was nothing more than letting it out.

"When we took over this ballclub five years ago, people told me we had players that didn't care. I don't think anybody can say that about this team, after today."

Rather than being upset with Graffanino and Estrada, Yost said he actually admired them for coming to the defense of a teammate. And, realizing that Estrada had been criticized at times in Arizona last year for disagreements with manager Bob Melvin and certain teammates, Yost said it was unfair to single out his catcher in this circumstance.

"Johnny is a competitor and a 'gamer' and plays to win," Yost said. "He doesn't care about anything else. He's out there to win.

"That's why I respect Johnny as a player. He's not here to make friends. He's here to win ball games. That's what I really like about Johnny."

[metirish]

Looks like all concerned handled that situation well.