FanPost

Cubs in blowouts and 1-run games

The Cubs are 10-5 this season in games decided by 5 or more runs.

That .667 winning percentage in blowouts is tied with the Yankees, also 10-5, for the seventh best among all teams.

The Rays are an astonishing .875 (14-2), followed by the Braves (.833, 10-2), Orioles (.750, 3-1), Astros (.700, 7-3), Cardinals (.692, 9-4) and Rangers (.682, 15-7).

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But the Cubs have the lowest percentage among all teams in 1-run games, a horrendous .167 (2-10).

Only 4 other teams have failed to win at least one third of their close games: the Mariners (.250, 4-12), Cardinals and Padres (both .273, 3-8) and Twins (.308, 4-9).

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The difference between the Cubs' winning percentages in blowouts and 1-run games, 500 points (.667- minus .167), is easily the largest of any team.

The Cardinals are second, at 419 points, as they are just .273 (3-8) in 1-run games.

Then come the Mariners, at 386 points (.636/.250); the Rays, at 312 (.875/.563); and the Rangers, at 307 (.682/.375).

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CUBS' PREVIOUS SEASONS

While success in close games doesn't go hand-in-hand with success in blowouts, the 2 generally trend in the same direction.

Since 1876, the Cubs have had 20 seasons in which they had a winning record in blowouts and a losing record in 1-run games.

They have had 15 seasons in which they had a winning record in 1-run games and a losing record in blowouts.

But they have had winning or .500 records in both in 56 seasons and losing or .500 records in both 57 seasons.

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BETTER IN BLOWOUTS

In fact, the only time the Cubs finished a season with a bigger difference between their blowout percentage and 1-run percentage than their current gap was in . . . 1876, first season of the National League.

En route to winning the pennant with a 52-14 record, the Cubs (then called the White Stockings) were 35-0 in blowouts and 4-6 in 1-run games, a difference of 600 points.

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Each of their 3 next-biggest differences when they had winning records in blowouts all came between 1881 and 1905:

354 points: 1885 (.880, 44-6/.526, 10-9)

327 points: 1905 (.811, 30-7/.484, 30-32)

307 points: 1881 (.784, 25-7/.474, 9-10)

In 1882, they had a difference of 289 points (.763, 29-9/.474, 9-10). They duplicated that in 1935, when they were .810 in blowouts (34-8) and .521 in 1-run games (25-23).

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Their biggest difference since 1935 was 276 points, in 2002 (.609, 28-18/.333, 18-36), just ahead of 275 points, in 2016 (.764, 42-13/.489, 22-23).

The Cubs have had 2 other seasons with a winning record in blowouts and a difference of at least 250 points: 271, in 2004 (.659/.388) and 263 (.897/.634) in 1909.

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BETTER IN 1-RUN GAMES

The Cubs have had 5 seasons in which they had a losing record in blowouts but were at least 250 points better in 1-run games:

333 points: 1947 (.262, 11-13/.595, 25-17)

310 points: 1953 (.238, 10-32/.548, 23-19)

298 points: 1976 (.250, 7-21/.548, 34-28)

279 points: 1900 (.350, 14-26/.629, 22-13)

258 points: 1892 (.372, 16-27/.630, 17-10)

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BEST, WORST IN BLOWOUTS

The Cubs have had winning records in blowouts in 79 previous seasons, .500 records in 4 and losing records in 65.

Besides the 1.000 in 1876, their highest percentages in blowout games were .920 (1880), .897 (1909), .880 (1885), .846 (1906) and .811 (1905).

Their highest in the Live Ball Era were .810 (1935), .764 (2016), .763 (1936), .757 (1946), .708 (1929) and .702 (2008).

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They have had 9 seasons with a blowout percentage below .300:

.211: 1962

.238: 1953

.250: 1976

.262: 1947

.267: 1974

.271: 1949

.273: 1956

.276: 1981

.294: 1960

.297: 2000

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Over all 148 seasons, including this year, they have won 3,051 blowouts and lost 2,738, a .527 percentage.

They have averaged 21 wins and 19 losses.

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BEST, WORST IN 1-RUN GAMES

The Cubs have had less success in 1-run games, winning exactly 2 more than they have lost, 3,238 to 3,236.

They have averaged 22 wins and 22 losses.

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Their 14 highest winning percentages in close games all came no later than 1914.

Their best, .750, was in 1880, when they went 12-4.

They went .706 in 1879 (12-5), .698 in 1907 (37-16), .697 in 1891 (23-10) and .692 in 1888 (18-8).

In the Live Ball Era, their highest percentage was .618 (34-21), in 2015, followed by .614 in 2003 (27-17) and .606 in 2017 (26-17).

Those are the only 3 seasons in the past century in which they won 60 percent of their 1-run games.

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The Cubs' .167 in such games this season is a whopping 113 points below their all-time, full-season low of .280, set in 1894, when they finished 7-18.

They were .333 in 1893 (10-2) and 2002 (18-36), .357 in 2012 (15-27), .366 in 2006 (15-26) and .377 in 2013 (20-33).

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In 2012, the Cubs also had a .357 percentage in blowouts, making it the only full season in which they ever had identical percentages in blowouts and close games.

They were .433 in both in 1994 when the season was halted by a strike after 113 games.

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