Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants, Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA
August 10, 1993

Introduction

The 1993 season had several memorable story lines: expansion to Colorado and Florida, a surge in offense (runs per game increased in the National League from 3.88 in 1992 to 4.49). And, for most the season, the remarkable performance of the San Francisco Giants, led by their prize free-agent signing, Barry Bonds and their rookie manager, Dusty Baker.

On Tuesday, August 10th, 23,308 fans came out to Candlestick Park to watch the Giants square off against the Cincinnati Reds in an afternoon game, the second in a three-game series. The Giants had beaten the Reds 10-7 the day before, pushing the Giants' record to 75-38 while the Reds had fallen to 59-56.

The starting pitchers for the game were Bill Swift for the Giants, who entered play with a record of 16-5, versus Jose Rijo. Rijo had been named World Series MVP three years earlier. He entered play on August 10, 1993, with a record of 10-5.

Swift and Rijo entered play on August 10th third and fourth in the National League in ERA, respectively, at 2.68 and 2.73. So would we see a good old-fashioned pitchers' duel or would the run-scoring surge of 1993 make an appearance? Let's find out.

First Inning

Well, if you can predict a game based on its first batter, it looked like a pitchers' duel as Jeff Branson led off the game by striking out. A two-out walk by Jack Daugherty was wasted when Reds' cleanup hitter Kevin Mitchell lined out to right-center field.

The Giants matched the Reds by getting one baserunner - a one-out single by Robby Thompson in this case. Thompson got one base farther than Daugherty had, moving to second base as Will Clark grounded out, but the threat ended as Rijo got Matt Williams to ground out to shortstop.

Second - Third Innings

The next four half-innings saw a grand total of 12 batters - the absolute minimum - including five strikeouts. The only baserunner was Willie McGee, who singled with one out in the bottom of the second inning, but was eliminated when Royce Clayton hit into a classic 6-4-3 double play.

Fourth Inning

The string of three-batter half-innings extended to five in the top of the fourth inning.

Finally, the string of 1-2-3 innings was ended in the bottom of the fourth inning - along with the scoreless tie. Robby Thompson led off the inning with a home run to left field and the Giants led 1-0. Will Clark followed with another deep fly ball, but this one stayed in the park and was run down by Reds' center fielder Jacob Brumfield. With that, Jose Rijo settled down and retired the next two batters without any issues on a strikeout and an infield pop-up.

Fifth Inning

When Chris Sabo grounded back to Swift to lead off the fifth inning, he was the 11th straight Reds batter retired by Bill Swift. That string finally ended when the next batter, Reggie Sanders, finally got the Reds' first hit of the game - only to be caught stealing. Joe Oliver popped out to Robby Thompson and Bill Swift was through five innings having faced only one batter over the minimum (Jack Daugherty's first-inning walk).

Outside of Thompson's home run, though, the Giants weren't doing much better. Kirt Manwaring singled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning - the fourth Giants' hit of the game - but got no farther than first base. But the Giants led 1-0 at the end of five.

Sixth Inning

Ho hum. Another 1-2-3 inning from Swift in the top of the sixth, capped by a strikeout of Jeff Branson - Branson's third strikeout of the game (and Swift's fifth).

So far in the game, the only offensive player on either team who had reached second base was Robby Thompson, who had done so twice: in the first inning via a single and groundout and in the fourth inning via his home run. Thompson came to bat for the third time with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. He crushed a fly ball to deep right field that looked like an easy triple. And when second baseman Branson (he of the 0-for-3 with 3 K's batting line) made a wild relay throw, Thompson scampered home with the second run of the game. The play was scored a triple and throwing error but the result was the same as an inside-the-park home run: a 2-0 Giants lead.

The next batter, Will Clark, singled - the first time two batters from the same team reached base in the same inning - making Thompson's run earned. But Rijo bore down and struck out Matt Williams and Barry Bonds to end the inning.

Seventh Inning

After a fly out to center field and a groundout to the mound, Swift had gotten 20 outs while facing only 21 batters. Yet he still only had a two-run lead.

Make that a one-run lead as Reds' cleanup hitter Kevin Mitchell put the ball over the left-field fence and the Giants lead was now only 2-1. To his credit, Swift didn't let Mitchell's home run rattle him but was able to quickly get the third out on Chris Sabo's groundout to short.

Meanwhile, Jose Rijo continued to have his way with everybody on the Giants not named Robby Thompson. An easy 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning, and the non-Thompson Giants were now a combined 3-for-23 with no walks, five strikeouts, and no baserunners past first base.

Eighth Inning

The Reds now had two chances to overcome a one-run lead. But Bill Swift showed no signs of fatigue. He opened the top of the eighth inning the same way he had opened the top of the first inning: with a strikeout. That was quickly followed by a groundout to short. The next batter, Jacob Brumfield, also hit a ground ball to the shortstop. But Royce Clayton bobbled this one and the tying run was on base.

The next scheduled batter was Jose Rijo. As great as Rijo had pitched, the Reds had no choice but to pinch hit and try to pick up the elusive tying run. And so the Reds called on pinch hitter Tommy Gregg.

Rijo's day ended with a pitching line of seven innings of two-run, six-hit ball with no walks and five strikeouts. Unfortunately for him, he also left on the wrong end of a 2-1 score.

Meanwhile, pinch hitter Tommy Gregg didn't even get a chance to hit as Clayton was caught trying to steal second base - the second would-be basestealer thrown out by Kirt Manwaring on the day - and the Reds were down to their final three outs.

Jeff Reardon came out to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning and picked up right where Rijo had left off, pitching a 1-2-3 inning. Of some note, the first batter retired by Reardon was Todd Benzinger, who pinch hit for Bill Swift. Swift finished with eight innings of two-hit ball with one walk and six strikeouts. In all, Swift had faced only two batters over the minimum for the game.

Ninth Inning

With Swift out of the game, the Giants turned to their closer, Rod Beck. Beck had turned 25 years old one week earlier. The 1993 season was Beck's third major-league season. After a fine 1992 season in which he picked up 17 saves in 65 games with a 1.76 ERA in 92 innings pitched, Beck had taken his game to another level in 1993. He entered the game on August 10th having earned 34 saves in 52 appearances with a 1.49 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 54-1/3 innings pitched.

One small advantage for the Reds: because Bill Swift had been so efficient, the Reds were going to open the ninth inning with a pinch hitter followed by the top of their lineup.

Pinch hitter Randy Milligan drew a walk, giving the Reds at least a bit of hope. The next batter was Jeff Branson whose day thus far had included three strikeouts and a throwing error. The Reds decided to play for the tie and Branson successfully sacrificed pinch runner Juan Samuel to second base. Incredibly, Samuel was the first baserunner to stand on second base since Robby Thompson in the bottom of the first inning - the game's three runs having been scored via two home runs and a triple with a throwing error.

The game ended without any baserunner (for either team) stopping at third base. Willie Greene popped out to the shortstop. Jack Daugherty struck out.

And the Giants had a tidy 2-1 win all wrapped up in one hour and 59 minutes.

Game Summary

How well pitched was this game? The two teams combined to leave only five men on base and neither team's cleanup hitter had a fourth plate appearance! The Giants' 2-1 win improved Bill Swift's record to 17-5 on the season (he would finish the 1993 season with a record of 21-8) while Rod Beck picked up his 35th save of the season (he would finish the season with 48). As measured by Player won-lost records, Swift and Beck were two of the three keys to this Giants victory. The third contributor was the man who scored both Giants runs, Robby Thompson.

With their August 10th win, the San Francisco Giants improved to 76-38 and maintained a 9-game lead on the Atlanta Braves. The Reds loss dropped them to 59-57, far behind the Giants and Braves, but only 1/2-game behind the Houston Astros for third place in the NL West.

In retrospect, this would basically turn out to be both teams' peak in 1993.

The Reds' August 10th loss was their second in a row. After peaking at 59-56 two days earlier, the Reds finished the 1993 season on a 14-34 stretch which included a 12-game losing streak. The Reds final record was 73-89 and they finished in fifth place, 31 games out of first and 12 games out of third place.

The Giants followed up this win (their second in a row) by winning their next two games and 7 of their next 10 games at which point their record stood at 81-40. Even at that point, however, a few worrisome clouds began to emerge as the Giants' lead shrunk from 9 games on August 10th to 7.5 games on August 19th. From there, the Giants went 22-19, including an 8-game losing streak. Of course, there's nothing terribly wrong with a 22-19 record. Unfortunately for the Giants, the Atlanta Braves, after bottoming out at 65-47, 9-1/2 games out of first place, at the end of the day on August 7th finished the season by going 39-11, including 5-1 against the Giants. The Braves ended with a record of 104-58, winning the NL West by one game. And, in what was the final season before the introduction of the Wild Card, the 1993 San Francisco Giants were left with the dubious distinction of almost certainly being the last 100-win team in major-league history to not make the playoffs.

Details of the game are shown below. First, I show Player won-lost records for all of the players who participated in the game. Baseball Player won-lost records are constructed so that the players on the winning team earn two pWins and one pLoss in the game while the players on the losing team earn one pWin and two pLosses. I also show expected wins and losses, eWins and eLosses, which are context-neutral. Full play by play details of the game are shown below the won-lost tables. My Player won-lost records are described in more detail in this article and throughout my website.

Retrosheet Box Score and Play-by-Play