Sporcle Saturday: Somewhat special pitcher wins

Dallas Keuchel’s first start as a member of the White Sox in last Saturday’s 10-3 win over the Twins went relatively well –5.1 IP, just three singles, no walks and the decision– but what caught my eye on the pitching line was the lone strikeout. Surely, I mused, starting pitcher wins don’t occur all that often when the guy throws one or fewer strikeouts. Especially in this era of high strikeouts!

[Update after Friday’s game: I darn near had to redo some of this post]

It turns out that while it isn’t common, it’s not really uncommon either: MLB has seen two this year, and there were 26 last year. For you percentage folks out there, that works out to five-tenths of one percent of all games in 2019. In other words –assuming I did the math correctly, never a given– there’s a 1:187 chance that the event will occur, at least in today’s era of pitching and pitcher use.

Anyway, today’s Sporcle is all about those White Sox starting pitchers who have accomplished a similar line: at least 5 IP, 1 or fewer strikeouts, and they picked up the win. We’re going back to 1990 which gives us 106 entries: how many can you name? Good luck!

Quiz Parameters

• I’ve allotted 15 minutes for completion attempts.
• For hints, I’ve provided the date of the game and the opponent.

Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:

• The lowest game score from the players on this list was a 29, on 9/11/2004. That was a 5 inning, 5 ER effort that the Sox went on to win 13-6 over Anaheim.
• On the flip side, the highest game score was a 75, on 8/8/2001. That was a complete game, 4-hit masterpiece in a 15-1 blowout, coincidentally also against Anaheim.
• The Sox opponent who has been victimized the most by this type of game since 1990 is the Kansas City Royals, with a total of 16 games. (Minnesota is a close second, with 15)

Direct link here

All data from stathead.com

(Photo Credit White Sox)

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