Oddity: the Inverted Vander Meer

[Amazin69]

May 22nd, 2017. Robbie Erlin takes the mound for the San Diego Padres, looking to find a way to slow down the visiting Atlanta Braves, leaders of the NL East.

Robbie doesn't do so well, allowing 4 runs in 5.1 IP. But maybe his batsmen took him off the hook, roughing up Atlanta's Julio Teheran?

Nope.



Teheran not only threw a no-hitter, he didn't allow any walks, either. The Padres' only baserunner was when Hunter Renfroe got hit by a pitch. And he was caught stealing, so Teheran only faced the minimum 27 batters.

The next day, the Padres go 17 innings before losing, and have to pitch #5 starter Adys Portillo in relief. So come Friday, May 26th, and manager Bud Black asks Erlin to go on three days' rest. The good news is Robbie only threw 93 pitches on Monday, and he's facing a poor San Francisco Giants team, so maybe he can get a few good innings in.

Once again, Erlin can only go 5.1 innings, but this time he only allows two runs. And his hitters are bound to improve on Monday's effort, right? Right?

Wrong.



Lincecum doesn't even have the decency to hit anyone. That's a perfect game, folks. 18 innings of Padre offensive ineptitude in Erlin's last two starts; no hits, no walks, one HPB, one caught stealing, nobody LOB. Ouch.

Ironically enough, the Pads are not terribly inept offensively. They are 10th out of 16 NL teams in runs scored. My Mets, coughing along in 13th, would gladly take that.

Or, barring that, maybe we can play San Diego soon? With Erlin on the mound?

"Aw, c'mon, guys! Geez."

[xepicx2729]

oh my....