DENVER - Tuesday night at Coors Field, Greg Holland came into the game with two outs, one runner aboard, and a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth.
Yes, that's a save situation, and Holland needed just one pitch to earn his 39th save this season.
I was stitting next to Jonah Keri, who wondered aloud how often that happens. Eventually, I collected guesses from three baseball writers -- Jonah, Andy McCullough, Nick Groke -- along with my friend Lauren, who follows the Rockies and Rays like nobody's business. Their guesses, plus mine, for how many one-pitch saves were recorded in 2013:
AM - 5
LC - 17
NG - 18
JK - 20
RN - 23
Feel free to go ahead and guess before I reveal the correct answer ...
Two. There were two in 2013, via Jim Johnson and Steve Delabar. There were also two in 2012, and there have been two in 2014. Granted, there were four in 2011. But we're basically looking at two or three one-pitch saves per season.
Granted, there were six in 2010. Which does make me wonder if managers have become more rigid than ever.
Wait. We don't have to wonder. We know they have. Still, the bottom lines are a) Holland's feat is a rare one, b) Andy McCullough came pretty close to nailing it, and d) I was way off.
