Nationals' Guthrie allows 10 earned runs ... in 2/3 of an inning
To say Washington Nationals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie's first major-league start since 2015 didn't go well would be a massive understatement.
Taking the hill against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, Guthrie failed to escape the first inning, allowing 10 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning before being replaced by lefty reliever Enny Romero who allowed two more runs in the inning.
To make matters worse, it all landed on Guthrie's birthday. Talk about salt in the wound.
Guthrie became the first starting pitcher in the Nationals and Montreal Expos combined history to allow 10 runs and not make it out of the first inning, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The 38-year-old joined dubious company as only the fourth pitcher in the last century to allow 10 or more earned runs without notching three outs. The other three were Jason Jennings, Luke Hudson, and Bubba Harris.
| Date | Name | IP | H | BB | ER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/08/2017 | Jeremy Guthrie | 2/3 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 07/29/2007 | Jason Jennings | 2/3 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| 08/13/2006 | Luke Hudson | 1/2 | 8 | 3 | 10 |
| 07/04/1948 | Bubba Harris | 2/3 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
Coming into the game, Guthrie's career ERA was 4.37 over 1,764 2/3 innings. Saturday's start raised that number to 4.42.
Guthrie was formerly one of the top pitchers for the Baltimore Orioles, but has struggled in recent years. Saturday's performance also gave him the distinction of becoming the first player in the live-ball era to allow 10 or more runs in an inning or less on two separate occasions, as ESPN's Jayson Stark points out.
Guthrie allowed 11 earned runs in an inning against the New York Yankees in 2015.
The inning was almost even more historic, as the Phillies' record for most runs scored in an inning is 13. They had only scored 14 runs in four games prior to Saturday night, and they managed all this without even hitting a home run.
The 12-run performance is, however, a Phillies club record for the first inning, and the most the team has put across in a single inning since 2003, when it scored 13 in the fourth against the Cincinnati Reds.