If you needed another example of why wins are a flawed stat for pitchers, take a look at Ross Detwiler.
The guy leaves his start tonight with a 2.53 ERA on the season, and if tonight's score holds, this will mark just his second win in seven starts.
Detwiler exited tonight's game after 6 2/3 innings of work, having scattered eight hits and allowed just two runs. He stuck out two and walked none, throwing 90 pitches, 57 for strikes.
The Nationals' left-hander has allowed no more than three earned runs in any of his seven outings this season, but his record entering tonight was 1-3.
With the Nats holding a 7-2 lead mid-way through the seventh, there's a pretty decent chance Detwiler's win total will get a bump.
Remarkably, Detwiler allowed just the two runs despite surrendering leadoff doubles in four of the seven innings he started. He was able to work out of trouble throughout the game and limit the damage the Cubs could do offensively.
A handful of followers on Twitter pointed out that Detwiler seemed to grimace when he ran over to first to cover on a grounder to the right side in the seventh. We'll check and see whether that played into Davey Johnson's decision to go get his starter with two outs in that seventh inning.
Craig Stammen is now in for the Nationals, getting his first action in a week. A number of guys in the Nats' bullpen have seen minimal work lately with starters going so deep into games, so it's also possible that Johnson just wanted to let Stammen have a shot to enter an inning with a runner on.
We'll know more after the game.
Update: Stammen finished this thing off himself, working the final 2 1/3 innings to close out a 7-3 Nats win.
Ian Desmond came up a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a home run, double and three RBIs and Danny Espinosa and Kurt Suzuki each added two RBIs to pace the offense.
Detwiler does indeed improve to 2-3 on the season, while the Nats improve to 20-15, moving to five games over .500 for the first time since April 11.
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