Ray Lester Finally Gives One Up

Ray Lester

But that's it, just one. A single run over 36 2/3 innings pitched.

Ray Lester, of the San Francisco Earthquakes, started the inaugural ABL season throwing 31 shutout innings, a record that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.

It took Minnesota's Dale Watson crushing a home run for 415 feet to break the streak. Predictibly, it was Minnesota's only hit of the inning and their only run of the game. The Earthquakes answered the home run resoundingly, scoring six runs in the top of the following inning.

5-0 with a .25 ERA through his first five games, Lester leads the league in almost every pitching category, but there are two numbers in particular that are the key to his dominant start. Lester has allowed just three walks over those five games, giving him a .74 BB/9. (Oddly, this is one category he doesn't lead the the league in, as King Crawford and Bob Rudyard have a .5 BB/9 mark).

More importantly though, he has allowed just two extra base hits, one of which was the streak-breaking home run. The other was a double, the only extra base hit against him in those first 31 shutout innings.

If there's one weakness that Lester seems to have, it's that he's only made it past the seventh inning twice and has a single complete game. It's of small concern for now, though, as he's getting plenty of run-support, 41 runs in five games, and the bullpen has been solid behind him.

At 36, how long can Ray Lester keep this pace? Who knows? If you're playing against him anytime soon, though, you'd better make sure your pitcher plans to throw a shut-out to have a chance.