So last night, in G159, Myers' remarkable streak of 32 starts of 6IP+ came to an end. The County Clerk is out for the recap, partially because he's a douche. Let's discuss Myers 33rd start of the year.
First of all, he got rocked, yes - but mainly in just two innings, the 5th/6th. From the 1st-4th innings, the Reds were 4x16, 4K:2BB, 2ER. And then the 5th came along. Brandon Phillips grounded out, Miguel Cairo and Joey Votto walked. Jonny Gomes singled, and Jay Bruce fouled out. At this point the bases are loaded, but with two outs. Drew Stubbs hit a two-run single, and Ryan Hanigan got an RBI single to make it a 5-1 game before Paul Janish flied out to left.
In the 6th, Bronson Arroyo led off the inning with a single and Brandon Phillips took him real deap. Three batters later, Jonny Gomes hit a homer to make it 8-1. And Myers' night was done, one out short of his 33rd consecutive start of 18+ outs.
So help me work through something, because I'm torn right down the middle about this:
Side A: Why would Mills pull Myers when he just needed one more out to keep the streak alive? Jay Bruce was coming up to bat, and he was 2x3 with two singles, sure, but the Astros were out of it. 8-1? Leave him in, and let him keep his streak. This season, I'd take a gassed Brett Myers over Gustavo Chacin.
Side B: Myers didn't pitch well, allowing three homers to the Reds (he allowed four homers against the Brewers on June 29, and this was his 4th multi-HR game of the season - all came on the road.). The 8ER are a season high, and the most he's allowed since September 19, 2008. He was also at 114 pitches, needing 50 pitches to get through the 5th and 6th innings. Pitching that poorly, he didn't exactly earn his 18 outs, and it's not a streak that is reminiscent of, say, Cal Ripken, Jr. So, streak's over, and rightly so.
What do you think? Should Mills have let him get that last out, or was he right to pull him?
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
