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Cubs' short starts, then scoreless relief

After Saturday's game at Cincinnati, the Cubs' bullpen was roundly praised -- and deservedly so.

Five relievers combined to shut out the Reds for 5 innings, during which the Cubs turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory.

Davies has pitched no more than 4 innings in 5 of his 6 starts this year. Kyle Hendricks has done so 3 times; Jake Arrieta, Alec Mills and Trevor Williams once each, leaving the Cubs' total at 11 such games.

They have had 3,059 during the entire Modern Era, an average of 25 per season.

What may come as a surprise is that in 434 of those games -- 14.2 percent, or 1 of every 7 -- Cubs relievers did not allow a run the rest of the way.

No. 433 came just last month, when Alec Mills departed after 4 innings at Milwaukee and the Cubs went on to win, 3-2.

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FIRST OF ITS KIND

The first time it happened was Aug. 9, 1901, when the Cubs were known as the Orphans.

After they scored 2 runs in the top of the first at Pittsburgh, "Long Tom" Hughes, their 22-year-old right hander, surrendered a run on 2 walks, an error and an out.

With the score 3-1, "Hughes got out of a hole in the second round," the Chicago Tribune reported, "but in the third he had another bad spell and [acting manager Charlie] Dexter sent [Jack] Taylor out to warm up.

"It looked as if the Pirates would make an even dozen runs off Hughes in the third, but a rattling double play by [shortstop Barry] McCormick saved the day. Then Taylor took the leather."

Taylor, yielded just 4 hits and walked 1 over the final 6 innings to complete a 4-1 victory.

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ALMOST EVERY YEAR

The Cubs' bullpen has allowed no runs in 5 or more innings at least once in 119 of 121 seasons.

The exceptions: 1953, when starters pitched 4 or fewer innings in 47 of 155 games, and . . . last year, when they did it 16 times in 60 games.

They have done it just once in 19 seasons, most recently in 2017.

At the other extreme, they have turned the trick 9 times in 2 seasons: 1966 (43 starts of 4 or less) and . . . 2019, the year before last (30 such starts).

They did it 8 times in 1949 and 1983, and 7 times in 9 seasons, including 2018.

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STUDY IN CONTRASTS

Those 9-time teams are a study in contrast. The Cubs finished 59-103 in 1966, tying a team record for losses and winding up 10th for the only time in team history. In 2019, the Cubs wound up 84-78, in third, but had been second, only 2 games out of first, before a season-ending 2-10 tailspin.

The 2019 Cubs were 6-3 in the games that featured 5 shutout innings by relievers.

In 1966, they were just 2-7.

Of the 8-timers, the 1949 Cubs had 40 short starts and were 5-3 while the 1983 team did it 33 times and was 3-5.

The Cubs' record in all 434 games is 195-235-4, a .454 winning percentage, equivalent to a 73-89 record over a full 162-game season.

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SHORT-START SHUTOUTS

18 times, a Cubs starter has departed after 4 or fewer innings without allowing a run, then relievers completed a shutout.

The first was Oct. 5, 1907, when Orval Overall threw 3 innings against the Cardinals to warm up for the imminent World Series, and the Cubs ultimately won, 2-0.

The most recent was April 8, 2019, in the Cubs' home opener, when Jon Lester left with an injury after 2 innings of an eventual 10-0 rout of the Pirates.

The 2019 game was just the fourth this century. The others came in 2000, 2002 and 2016. Those are their only 4 since 1985

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Among the 4 in the Dead Ball Era was a contest at Cincinnati on April 17, 1908.

Ed Reulbach walked the first batter he faced on 4 pitches, then did the same to the second. After he threw 2 more balls to the third, he was replaced by Chick Fraser.

Fraser promptly induced an around-the-horn double play and got a fly out to end the inning.

Over the next 8 innings, he gave up 5 hits and walked 5, but did not allow a run. Frank Chance tripled in the sixth and came home on a single by Harry Steinfeldt. That stood up for a 1-0 victory.

The official box score credits Reulbach with pitching one third of an inning, although he actually did not record an out.

In all the years since that day, only 1 Cubs starter pitched just the first inning of a shutout: Lew Burdette, at Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 1964.

He got the first 2 outs of the game, then was hit by a line drive on his forearm. He fielded the ball, threw out the batter and headed for the hospital, where X-rays revealed no broken bones.

Rookie Cal Koonce then blanked the Dodgers on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7.

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1 (OR LESS) AND DONE

Burdette is among 11 Cubs starters who have pitched exactly 1 inning, after which the bullpen did not allow any runs. The only 2 since 1964: Jim Kremmel, in a 4-1 win over the Padres on Aug. 16, 1974, and Ferguson Jenkins, in a 6-5 loss to the Padres on July 11, 1983.

The last of those was only the second such game that the Cubs lost. The other was 1924, a 5-2 defeat by the Giants.

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11 more starters departed after two thirds of an inning, after which the bullpen fired blanks. The Cubs are 7-4 in those games. The most recent was a start by Rick Sutcliffe in an eventual 9-2 win over the Dodgers on July 28, 1985. All the others were between 1920 and 1952.

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Paul Moskau started against the Dodgers on May 10, 1983, and got only 1 out while allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk. The Cubs rallied to win, 3-2, making them 2-5 in 1-out starts when relievers allowed no runs.

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9 INNINGS TIMES 4

Incredibly, the Cubs have had 4 games in which the bullpen pitched 9 scoreless innings after a starter failed to retire a batter. All took place in just less than 11 years, 3 of them were against the Braves, and the Cubs won 2 of the 4!

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On June 17, 1938, at Boston, Larry French's day went error, single, single, RBI single, 2-run single. Charlie Root took over and gave up 2 hits through 5 innings. Al Epperly allowed 1 in 2 innings and Jack Russell, 1 in 1. Still, the Cubs lost, 3-2.

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On Sept. 3, 1945, at home against the Reds, Hank Wyse was greeted with 3 straight singles, the third scoring a run. Hy Vandenberg coaxed a fly ball on which the runner was double off first, then a groundout to end the inning.

Bill Nicholson hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning to put the Cubs in front and they rolled to a 7-1 victory. Vandenberg pitched 9 innings, scattering 6 hits, walking none and striking out 5.

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On July 15, 1948, at home against the Braves, Ralph Hamner walked 2 hitters, permitted a run-scoring single, then walked another man. Reliever Emil Kush retired 3 in a row, but the first was on a sacrifice fly, with the run charged to Hamner.

That run proved decisive, as Johnny Sain held the Cubs to 1 run on 7 hits.

Kush worked 8 scoreless innings, despite 7 walks to go with 3 hits. Dutch McCall got 2 outs in the ninth and Hank Borowy 1.

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On June 12, 1949, at Boston, Sain retired the Cubs' first batter, then surrendered 3 singles, resulting in a run. He hit the next batter, then surrendered a bases-clearing triple and called it a day, having faced 6 batters. A wild pitch by the Braves' reliever made the score 5-0.

But Johnny Schmitz faced only 4 batters before he was yanked: walk, single, RBI single and single. A second run scored on a groundout by the first batter to face reliever Warren Hacker.

Hacker then registered 26 more outs. His final line: 9 innings, 1 hit, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts. The final score: 6-2.

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BREAKDOWN BY LENGTH OF START

Here, by starter's innings pitched, is how many games the Cubs have played in which a starter lasted no more than 4 innings, then relievers allowed no runs. The number is followed in parentheses by the most recent such game for that number.

0.0: 4 (1949)

0.1: 7 (1958)

0.2: 11 (1985)

1.0: 11 (1983)

1.1: 16 (2006)

1.2: 16 (2004)

2.0: 36 (2019)

2.1: 31 (2016)

2.2: 24 (2018)

3.0: 58 (2019)

3.1: 39 (2019)

3.2: 50 (2018)

4.0: 137 (2021, twice)

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1 RUN OFF STARTER

As noted earlier, in 18 games, a Cubs starter pitched 4 or fewer innings without allowing a run, then relievers completed a shutout.

In 16 other games, the starter didn't make it to the fifth, gave up 1 run, then the bullpen gave up none.

The Cubs won 14 of those 16.

They lost, 1-0, on July 21, 1915, when Karl Adams worked the first 4 innings against the Phillies.

They tied the Pirates, 1-1, on Sept. 29, 2016,when Rob Zastryzny went 3.2 innings against the Pirates. (That was the Cubs' most recent tie.)

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BREAKDOWN BY RUNS ALLOWED

Here, by number of runs allowed, is how many games the Cubs have played in which a starter lasted no more than 4 innings, then relievers allowed no runs. The number is followed in parentheses by how many of the games the Cubs won.

0: 18 (18)

1: 16 (14)

2: 34 (27)

3: 78 (45)

4: 109 (38)

5: 85 (31)

6: 54 (17)

7: 22 (3)

8: 11 (1)

9: 6 (1)

10: 1 (0)

11: 1 (0)

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9 RUNS, THEN NONE

Julian Tavarez is the only starter to allow 9 runs in less than 4 innings, after which the bullpen held an opponent scoreless.

It happened on July 6, 2001, at Detroit, as Tavarez lasted 3.2 innings, giving up 7 hits and walking 4. Only 3 of the runs were earned.

The Cubs scored 7 runs in the top of the fifth to take a 14-9 lead and they won, 15-9. Felix Heredia (3.1 IP, 4 hits), Jeff Fassero (1.0, 1 hit) and Kyle Farnsworth (1.0, 1 hit) were the relievers.

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8 IS ENOUGH

The starter in the 8-run game was Steve Traschel. On July 25, 1996, his line was 3.2 IP, 8 R, 11 H, 1 W, 2 K.

Rodney Myers (3.1 IP, 2 hits), Larry Caslan (0.1, 1), Kent Bottenfield (1.0, 1) and Bob Patterson (0.2, 0) completed the game.

The Cubs scored twice in the fifth to tie the game, then twice in the ninth to win, 10-8.

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7TH HEAVEN

On April 30, 1940, Claude Passeau was pulled with 2 out in the fourth. The next batter singled, scoring the 7th run charged to Passeau.

The Cubs scored twice in the fifth, once in the eighth, then twice with 2 out in the ninth to tie the score at 7. Al Todd then homered leading off the 10th to win the game.

That is the only game in which a Cubs starter gave up 7 runs in no more than 4 innings, the opponent never scored again and the Cubs won by a single run.

They have had 2 games since in which the starter allowed 7 runs, relievers none, and the Cubs won. The final score of both was 10-7.

The starters were Burt Hooton (3.2 IP) on June 14, 1974 against the Astros and Doug Bird (4.0) on Sept. 18, 1982 against the Expos.

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