Ely Mania is alive and well in Los Angeles, as the rookie pitched seven strong walkless innings to lead the Dodgers to their eighth straight win, 6-2 over the Astros.
I have reached the point of irrational exuberance regarding John Ely. I don't care that he is a 24-year old who doesn't hit 90 on the gun, and who never started above Double A before this season. The dude just throws strikes! Ely has gone 84 batters without issuing a walk, or an extra-base hit. In his last three starts, Ely has 21 strikeouts and no walks in 19 2/3 innings.
Since 1952, there have been two pitchers in baseball who pitched at least six innings without walking a batter three times in their first four career games: Ross Grimsley, in 1971, and Ely.
Blake DeWitt added two triples, the 19th time an LA Dodger had two triples in a game. The last Dodger to have two triples in a game was Rafael Furcal on June 13, 2007.
WP - John Ely (2-1): 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts
LP - Wandy Rodriguez (2-5): 6 2/3 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs (1 earned), 2 walks, 1 strikeout