Friday, April 5, 2013

Drew Smyly and 4-Inning Saves

Drew Smyly was masterful in the Tigers' home opener, going 4 perfect innings in relief of Doug Fister to finish it and record a save.  Going multiple innings to record a save is a rare feat in this day and age when closers are usually restricted to one inning.  Using Baseball Reference's Play Index, I was surprised to find out that it's actually happened 51 times (including Smyly's performance) since 2000.  Below are the most recent 10 (which doesn't include Smyly's performance yet):

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str
1 Derek Lowe 2012-08-13 NYY TEX W 8-2 6-9f ,S 4.0 2 0 0 0 4 0 44 33
2 Jerome Williams 2012-07-30 LAA TEX W 15-8 6-9f ,S 4.0 8 5 5 1 1 2 83 49
3 Jason Hammel 2011-09-11 COL CIN W 4-1 6-9f ,S 4.0 2 1 1 0 4 1 45 33
4 Zach Duke 2011-07-24 ARI COL W 7-0 6-9f ,S 4.0 3 0 0 0 0 0 41 25
5 Kenshin Kawakami 2009-09-21 ATL NYM W 11-3 6-9f ,S 4.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 49 33
6 Alfredo Aceves 2009-07-05 NYY TOR W 10-8 6-9f ,S 4.0 1 0 0 0 5 0 43 33
7 Ramon Troncoso 2009-04-25 LAD COL W 6-5 6-9f ,S 4.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 45 29
8 Brian Stokes 2008-08-13 NYM WSN W 12-0 6-9f ,S 4.0 3 0 0 0 3 0 52 37
9 Lance Cormier 2008-06-28 BAL WSN W 9-1 6-9f ,S 4.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 49 31
10 Brian Bass 2008-04-09 MIN CHW W 12-5 6-9f ,S 4.0 3 2 1 0 0 0 38 26
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/5/2013.

Derek Lowe was the most recent 4-inning save pitcher and Jerome Williams also did it last year.  However, none of these pitchers are from a Tiger and none of them did it in perfect fashion (12 up and 12 down).  Below are the most recent 10  Tigers to accomplish this feat:


Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str
1 Esteban Yan 2004-05-14 DET TEX W 7-1 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 4 0 38 28
2 Esteban Yan 2004-04-23 DET CLE W 17-3 6-9f ,S 4.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 35 19
3 Nate Robertson 2004-04-06 DET TOR W 7-3 6-9f ,S 4.0 1 0 0 2 7 0 60 35
4 Frank Castillo 1998-09-22 DET KCR W 14-4 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 5 0 65 44
5 A.J. Sager 1997-06-20 DET BOS W 12-6 6-9f ,S 4.0 2 0 0 1 0 0 53 34
6 A.J. Sager 1997-05-25 DET TEX W 13-5 6-9f ,S 4.0 3 1 1 1 5 0 51 34
7 Mike Christopher 1995-09-05 DET MIN W 6-4 6-9f ,S 4.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 55 32
8 Kurt Knudsen 1992-06-08 DET CLE W 9-2 6-9f ,S 4.0 2 0 0 2 2 0 75 51
9 Ed Nunez 1990-09-09 DET MIL W 5-0 6-9f ,S 4.0 2 0 0 1 4 0 51 36
10 Jerry Don Gleaton 1990-07-03 DET CHW W 13-7 6-9f ,S 4.0 3 0 0 1 0 0 45 29
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/5/2013.

Esteban Yan was the last Tiger to record a 4-inning save.  In fact, he did it twice.  And good old Nate Robertson is on the list.  Frank Castillo was just like Smyly, 12 up, 12 down and also had 5 strikeouts.  Here all the pitchers (since 1916) to also be perfect and record at least 5 strikeouts, like Smyly:

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str
7 Frank Castillo 1998-09-22 DET KCR W 14-4 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 5 0 65 44
9 Arthur Rhodes 1997-06-24 BAL MIL W 6-2 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 5 0 41 27
16 Bill Krueger 1989-08-18 MIL BOS W 5-2 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 6 0 54 35
18 Odell Jones 1988-05-02 MIL MIN W 4-3 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 5 0 45 31
30 Woodie Fryman 1980-05-14 MON HOU W 1-0 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 5 0
33 Skip Lockwood 1975-09-28 NYM PHI W 5-4 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 6 0
35 Tom Hall 1971-05-19 MIN CAL W 12-6 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 6 0
39 Moe Drabowsky 1966-07-20 BAL DET W 10-7 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 8 0
41 Chi-Chi Olivo 1966-06-10 ATL PIT W 8-2 4.0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/5/2013.

Since as far back as Baseball Reference will allow you to go (1916), what Smyly has done has only happened 9 other times.  That's some pretty rare company.

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