Maybe with less drama than last night?
Last night’s game illustrated two aspects of the Diamondbacks’ performance this season: wobbly pitching, but an ability to win the game despite it. Jack noted earlier today that Arizona are in an almost unprecedented position. “If the Diamondbacks remain at or below their current 92 ERA+, they would be only the fourth team in major league history to make the Postseason with a 92 or lower ERA+”. The previous were in two strike-shortened seasons, plus one back in the dead-ball era. Admittedly, part of that is a result of the expanded post-season. The D-backs currently have the fifth-best record in the NL, so we would perhaps not be having this conversation before 2012.
But simply by win percentage, the D-backs are in very rare territory. You have to go back before I was born – and I’m old, jaded and cynical – to find a team with an ERA+ that low, and as good a W% for a full season. The last were the 1960 Braves (at that point in Milwaukee, not Atlanta), who had an ERA+ of 91. Like the D-backs, they simply outscored the opposition with a +66 run differential, on their way to an 88-66 record, equivalent to 93 wins in a 162-game season. But they finished seven back of the Pirates, and in those days, only two teams made the postseason. Interestingly, they also had 25 wins in one-run games, exactly the same number as the D-backs thus far. They had 55 complete games though. Arizona? None.