The quick numbers say Brocail had a 3.93 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, 22 Holds and 64 strikeouts in 68.2 innings.
What do the long numbers say?
72 games - a career high.
Games giving up a run: 18
Games giving up a walk: 17
Games giving up a home run: 8
That means 54 games Brocail appeared in that he didn't give up a run. 54 out of 72. July and August were particularly brutal. Brocail gave up runs in consecutive games on two occasions in July and three consecutive games in August.
The home runs were to:
Padres LF (and left-handed #2 hitter) Paul McAnulty on April 17 at home with 0 out.
Nationals RF (and right-handed #6 hitter) Austin Kearns on May 6 at home with 0 out.
Yankees SS (and right-handed #1 hitter) Derek Jeter on June 13 at home with 0 out.
Pirates 1B (and left-handed #5 hitter) Adam LaRoche on July 8 at Pittsburgh with 2 outs.
Cubs LF (and right-handed #1 hitter) Alfonso Soriano on August 5 at Chicago with 2 outs.
Brewers SS (and right-handed #2 hitter) JJ Hardy on August 20 at Milwaukee with 2 outs.
Cardinals 1B (and right-handed #3 hitter) Albert Pujols on August 30 at home with 2 outs.
September 2 CF (and right-handed #5 hitter) Jim Edmonds at Chicago with 2 outs.
So that's 2 lefties and 6 righties. 4 at home, 4 on the road. 3 with no outs, 5 with 2 outs. And the Astros were 39-33 when Brocail pitched. 28 games in which Brocail put a man on base, but didn't give up a run.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
