In The Big Inning

Last night was the night of the big inning, as several teams pounded out runs in bunches. In particular, two games saw huge offensive outbursts.

The Dodgers jumped on the Rockies early, putting up an eight spot in the first inning. Kip Wells managed to retire just one batter – Andruw Jones, naturally – before Matt Kemp drove him from the game with his second double of the inning. The eight runs Wells allowed in the first inning was one more than he had allowed in his first 19 2/3 innings of the year.

Up in Kansas City, the Tigers outdid the Dodgers by having a 10 run 8th inning, but their offensive outburst redefined diminishing returns – they were already ahead 9-0 at the time they pummeled Jimmy Gobble, so their ten run inning increased their win probability by a whopping 0.1%. Detroit’s explosion was the baseball equivalent of kicking Barbaro while he’s down.

Interestingly, big innings are usually associated with bases clearing home runs, but the Dodgers and Tigers only needed one long ball between them to total the 18 runs they put up in two innings of offense. On the night, they combined for 35 runs of offense and only hit two home runs. You don’t have to hit the ball over the wall in order to round the bases – especially when you’re facing Kip Wells and Jimmy Gobble.