A pitching comparison

Well the Sox continue to roll, and today's results mean that the Sox will enter next week in first place, with the Yankees a minimum of 5.5 games behind.

Watching the last few innings on YES this afternoon, much of the discussion was centered on the Yankees poor starting pitching - the general feeling expressed by Kay and co was that the Yankees lacked that one starter who you knew you would act as a 'stopper' when his turn in the rotation came - this is the politely disguised way of saying... what is wrong with Randy Johnson?

The following table sets out the performance of the Sox and Yankees starting pitching over the last ten games, or twelve for the Yankees who have not had an off day for a while;

	BOS			NYY
Date	OPP	IP	ER	OPP	IP	ER
6/14	CIN	7.0	0	PIT	9.0	0
6/15	CIN	7.0	1	PIT	4.1	3
6/16				PIT	9.0	1
6/17	PIT	6.0	4	CHC	5.1	6
6/18	PIT	7.0	0	CHC	8.0	1
6/19	PIT	7.0	0	CHC	6.1	2
6/20	@ CLE	5.0	4	TB	4.2	3
6/21	@ CLE	7.0	1	TB	3.0	7
6/22	@ CLE	5.0	1	TB	6.2	5
6/23				TB	6.0	5
6/24	@ PHI	8.0	0	NYM	6.0	4
6/25	@ PHI	7.0	1	NYM	4.1	6
Total		66.0	12		72.2	43
AVG		6.2	1.2		6.0	3.6

It is not that the Yankees haven't had good starting pitching over the period - they have - and with the lineup that they have constructed they should be able to overcome some of the poor pitching performances that they have delivered as well. Over the 12 games they have actually gone 7-5, but the inconsistency that has plagued them all season is evident in this period as well - a 6 game winning streak, followed by 5 losses in the next 6. But that 3.6 runs per start translates to an ERA of almost 5 - no team will thrive over any significant period giving up 5 runs per game.

The Sox starters have performed well above reasonable expectations since Theo made his 'pitch better or else' comments in Chicago, and the Sox 9-1 record over the 10 games reflects this. Curt's return, now scheduled for some time around the ASG break, should further help the team, but can they be expected to keep this level of performance up for much longer?