MiLB Game Scores from Week 4
By MiLB.com
Week 4 in the Minor League season was highlighted by Josh Tomlin’s 10-strikeout, three-hit shutout for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. What else made the list of top pitching performances? Keep reading.
Stat guru Bill James devised a metric called “game score,” a number arrived at by adding or subtracting points based on in-game performance. It does not take into account prospect status or level, making it simple to compare outings across different leagues, affiliations and classes.
Here’s how to calculate a pitcher’s game score:
- Start with 50 points
- Add one point for each out recorded
- Add two points for each inning completed after the fourth
- Add one point for each strikeout
- Subtract two points for each hit allowed
- Subtract four points for each earned run allowed
- Subtract two points for each unearned run allowed
- Subtract one point for each walk.
Here’s a look at the top five pitching performances from April 28-May 4:
MiLB Game Scores Week 4
NameTeamIPHRERBBSOGAME SCOREJosh TomlinColumbus930001091Jason WheelerFort Myers92000386Yohan PinoRochester93000485Taylor HillSyracuse93001585Mike FiersNashville720001184
Josh Tomlin, 91
Tomlin was the final starting pitcher the Indians cut from big league camp in Spring Training. He earned a promotion with his early-season performance and continued his fantastic start with a win over Minnesota for the big club Tuesday.
Prior to his call-up, Tomlin unfurled a three-hit complete game, striking out 10 without walking a batter, to earn his second straight victory in Triple-A Columbus’ 3–0 shutout at Durham on April 29.
“My fastball command is there. I was able to throw it in and away, and get elevation when I needed to,” he told MiLB.com’s Josh Jackson. “[Catcher] Roberto [Perez] does a great job, and we were on the same page all night.”
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Jason Wheeler had an outing to remember April 28 in Florida.
Pitching for Class A Advanced Fort Myers, Wheeler turned in his first career complete game, blanking Bradenton in a 7–0 win at Hammond Stadium. The left-hander allowed only two hits without a walk and faced just one batter more than the minimum. He struck out three.
“I would say I was just attacking a lot more,” Wheeler told colleague Mark Emery. “Even the mentality was just like, ‘Here we go. Here it is, my best stuff. Let’s see if you can hit it.’ And let’s go to the next hitter.”
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There have been five shutouts pitched in the International League this season, and Rochester right-hander Yohan Pino has two of them, despite making only three starts.
The 29-year-old journeyman has jumped between starting and relieving for the Red Wings but may have earned himself a few more starts by going the distance in a 2–0 win over the Louisville Bats on May 3.
Pino (5–0) struck out four and limited Louisville to three hits without walking a batter. He needed 93 pitches, including 70 strikes, throwing first-pitch strikes to 25 of 29 batters.
“It’s all about getting strike one,” Rochester pitching coach Marty Mason told MiLB.com’s Jake Seiner. “He did that mostly with the fastball today. He mixed a few off-speed pitches in there, but mostly, out of those 29 first pitches, probably 25 of them were fastballs. It was all about attacking the zone.”
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With winds gusting up to 30 mph at his back, Taylor Hill had a pretty good idea how Syracuse’s matchup against Toledo on May 4 was going to go.
“If they can hit it out in that wind, I’ll tip my cap to them,” he told Seiner. “Their pitchers did the same thing. The only way either team would get beat is if they walked guys.”
So the 25-year-old right-hander pounded the strike zone with fastballs and let the Mud Hens hack away into the stiff breeze. The result was the first nine-inning complete game of his pro career and a 1–0 International League victory.
“I just threw a lot of fastballs,” Hill said. “I knew the wind was blowing in. It was a weird day pitching-wise. The wind was blowing in, and it was hard to get a grip on a lot of my off-speed pitches. They were swinging early and, fortunately, hitting right at guys.”
* * *
Mike Fiers is off to a such a hot start in the Pacific Coast League that something must be working especially well for him. What is it?
“Everything,” he told Jackson.
Fiers pitched a seven-inning two-hitter and struck out 11 without issuing a walk Wednesday as Triple-A Nashville blanked New Orleans, 1–0, in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Greer Stadium.
“I’ve been able to throw all four of my pitches for strikes, really locating with most of them every start,” the 28-year-old right-hander said. “Usually, when I go into a game, I pick the best three to work with, but when all four are working this well, it makes it easy for me to to keep hitters off-balance [throughout the game].”
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Here are the top MiLB game scores so far from the 2014 season.
2014’s Top MiLB Game Scores
PitchersNameIPHRERHBBBSOGAME SCOREWEEKMike MontgomeryDurham8.1000019913Josh TomlinColumbus93000010914Matt BoydDunedin82000012903Kendall GravemanLancaster8.1100017872Jason WheelerFort Myers9200003864
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