Maddux Redux

The Phils beat the Braves 16-2 tonight. Check out the Braves' pitching lines for the night:

                     IP   H  R ER BB SO HR  NP-ST  ERA 
G. Maddux (L, 0-3) 5-2/3 12 10  7  3  7  2 104-61 11.05 
J. Bong              1/3  1  0  0  1  1  0  13- 7  3.86 
J. Dawley          2      5  6  6  2  3  2  62-36 19.80 

Maddux gave up two home runs to Pat Burrell and Joey Dawley gave up two to Thome. The Braves have given up 10, 17, and 16 runs in the three games that Maddux has pitched. Amazingly, Maddux's poor outing only raised his ERA by .05. ESPN reports that his 0-3 start is his worst since 1989. But that year his ERA stood at 6.32 after those three starts. In 1989, he had his ERA under 4.00 by the end of the first week in May and under 3.00 by the third week in June.

If Maddux throws a complete game shutout in his next start, his ERA would still be 6.85. In the start after that: 4.96. It would take five complete game shutouts to get his ERA under 3.00. That would be about the middle of May. By the way, Maddux did not have any shutouts, let alone complete games, for the entire 2002 season.