May 24, 2016

West Coast Shutouts

All three games played on the west coast Monday night resulted in shutouts. Rich Hill pitched eight shutout innings for the Athletics as they gained a needed game on Seattle, Oakland winning 5-0. Hill lowers his ERA to 2.18, one of the few bright spots for the Athletics this season. Ryan Madson finished the game in the ninth as the Mariners managed nine hits, all singles.

In the National League, Clayton Kershaw and Johnny Cueto each threw a two-hit shutout. Both needed to be that good as both games ended in a 1-0 score, the Dodgers downing the Reds, while the Giants stopped the Padres. It had to be a particularly galling game for Reds fans, being the best pitched game of their eight-game losing streak. Brandon Finnegan pitched all eight innings for the loss. Kershaw walked one and struck out seven, so even on an off-night, the Reds were unable to do anything against the Dodgers big lefty.

Cueto did Kershaw one better, not issuing any walks in his start, while striking out six. His ERA drops to 2.38. While Cueto gets a complete game, Hunter Pence pinch hit for Cueto in the bottom of the ninth, and doubled in the winning run. All in all, a great night for late night pitching.

All three pitchers move up nicely on the Tom Tango Cy Young Tracker board. Kershaw now leads Jake Arrieta by six points, who in turn leads Cueto by five points. Hill moves past Jose Quintana into second place, but trails the amazing Chris Sale by nine points.

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