And only 6 total ROE by both teams! Three errant throws, two dropped foul pop-ups, and a rundown where the pitcher apparently missed the tag or dropped the throw. I know the teams missed spring training that season, but still, what a klutzy game! Dodgers coach Bill Russell must have been having flashbacks to 1972.

(Oh, how I wanted to make that description fit the meter of The Twelve Days of Christmas! Wouldn't have made sense, though.)

-- Ten Ks in less than 5 IP has been done 7 times since 1919, first by Koufax in '61 and next by Sam McDowell in '65. All 7 pitchers went 4.2 or 4.1 IP and got roughed up, allowing a total of 38 runs on 45 hits in 34.2 IP ... which simply means I found a bunch of games in which the starter got knocked out due to performance (Ks notwithstanding) rather than injury.

-- On June 19 of this year, KC's Danny Duffy started and faced 18 batters, getting 9 Ks in 3.2 IP. He threw 90 pitches and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN201106190.shtml

-- One of the most dominant starts shortened by injury was by Josh Beckett back in 2004: Coming off the DL, he fanned 8 in 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and no walks -- and went right back on the DL. He got a 65 Game Score, which is tied for 4th in the searchable era in starts of 4 IP or less. Tops is the 68 by E.Santana on top of the list above, followed by the 66 of Lester (last night) and Mussina, also on the list.

The current leader is Tony Armas Jr, of Pedro-trade fame, with 167.

I see second place is Shawn Chacon, which surprises me because I have a memory of him throwing a CG for the Yankees when he had his great stretch for them in '05. I remember it being about 120-130 pitches but he didn't appear to be at all fatigued or stressed. After scanning his gamelog, I'm probably thinking of this game, in which he threw 127 pitches but was pulled after 8 with a 5-run lead:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200508200.shtml

1. Career record of 1-15 nearly puts him in Terry Felton territory.

2. The listed game was the second started by Thompson in September 1973, when the Cardinals were fighting for a division title. You think he had a short leash on Sept. 28? On the 23rd, having been staked to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, he was removed after allowing a walk and a single to the first two hitters he faced.

3. Thompson started 29 major-league games and completed zero. I believe he held the record for a few years, from the mid-1970s until the early '80s, for most career starts without a complete game. Now, of course, he ranks in a tie for 130th most or something.

I believe you're thinking of Andy Hawkins rather than Matt Young. Hawkins was a bad pitcher too, and I mix the two up sometimes.

Young was worse than Hawkins, though. I don't care what ERA+ says.

I think baseball was fair to Matt "Boot" Young, considering that he shouldn't have been pitching in the majors in the first place.

Young was a horrible, horrible pitcher who somehow ended up with 10 years in the majors. His 55-95 lifetime record seems about right, and he has a fielding percentage of .878. Way to help yourself out.

It really cheapens a no-hitter when a guy like Matt Young has one. The baseball gods were forced to make Young lose it.