/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/14696343/20120606_mje_ad4_176.0.jpg)
It has been over a year—372 days to be precise—since a Toronto Blue Jays starter has thrown a non-shortened complete game (at least eight innings pitched at home, nine on the road), but the Milwaukee Brewers have now been complete game-free for the 800th straight day. The last time a Brewers started completed what he had begun was all the way back in game 5 of the 2011 season, when Yovani Gallardo won a 1-0 shutout against the Braves.
The last time the Blue Jays had an official complete game was on July 18, 2012 when Ricky Romero (what?? who?) tossed a six-inning complete game against the Yankees, losing 6-0 (ahhh, makes sense now). Chad Beck actually took the mound to warm up in the bottom of the seventh, but never threw a pitch because the rain started, so although it says so in the official record books, it's kind of a cheap way of getting a CG.
Toronto's last "legit" CG was thrown by Brandon Morrow, who threw a 119-pitch complete game shutout against the White Sox en route to a 4-0 Blue Jays victory on June 6, 2012. In the six games before that CG, Morrow had thrown two shutouts. Unfortunately in the game right after that CG, Morrow left the game after six pitches and didn't reappear until late August.
Almost a year to the day of Morrow's game, R.A. Dickey (who authored five complete games last season) was two outs away from ending the Blue Jays' drought last Wednesday, but manager John Gibbons took him out after he allowed a couple of runners to reach with one out in the ninth. His 8.1 innings pitched is still the most of any Jay in 2013. In fact there has been only four starts so far this season that have gone longer than 7.0 innings: Chien-Ming Wang (7.1), Morrow (8.0), Dickey (8.0), Dickey (8.2). By comparison the Yankees and the Mariners both have had 14 starts where their starter has made at least an out in the eighth inning, while the Rockies have none. Colorado has the second-longest streak without a complete game at 672 days.
When do you think the Blue Jays will get their first complete game this season (if they get any)? Who do you think will accomplish the feat? Guess the date, starter, and final score in the comments and if/when it happens the commenter with the closest guess will get bragging rights.
Tabulation of each team's most recent complete game:
Team
|
Days Since Last CG
|
Starting Pitcher
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
Result
|
MIL
|
800
|
Yovani Gallardo
|
2011-04-05
|
ATL
|
W 1-0
|
COL
|
672
|
Jhoulys Chacin
|
2011-08-11
|
CIN
|
L 1-2
|
TOR
|
372
|
Brandon Morrow
|
2012-06-06
|
CHW
|
W 4-0
|
BAL
|
362
|
Jason Hammel
|
2012-06-16
|
ATL
|
W 5-0
|
PIT
|
317
|
A.J. Burnett
|
2012-07-31
|
CHC
|
W 5-0
|
SDP
|
306
|
Jason Marquis
|
2012-08-11
|
PIT
|
W 5-0
|
SFG
|
303
|
Madison Bumgarner
|
2012-08-14
|
WSN
|
W 6-1
|
MIN
|
290
|
Liam Hendriks
|
2012-08-27
|
SEA
|
L 0-1
|
NYM
|
286
|
R.A. Dickey
|
2012-08-31
|
MIA
|
W 3-0
|
ATL
|
283
|
Kris Medlen
|
2012-09-03
|
COL
|
W 6-1
|
MIA
|
277
|
Ricky Nolasco
|
2012-09-09
|
WSN
|
W 8-0
|
TEX
|
264
|
Matt Harrison
|
2012-09-22
|
SEA
|
L 0-1
|
HOU
|
256
|
Jordan Lyles
|
2012-09-30
|
MIL
|
W 7-0
|
TBR
|
254
|
James Shields
|
2012-10-02
|
BAL
|
L 0-1
|
LAA
|
41
|
Jason Vargas
|
2013-05-03
|
BAL
|
W 4-0
|
BOS
|
34
|
Jon Lester
|
2013-05-10
|
TOR
|
W 5-0
|
CLE
|
31
|
Justin Masterson
|
2013-05-13
|
NYY
|
W 1-0
|
CIN
|
30
|
Homer Bailey
|
2013-05-14
|
MIA
|
W 6-2
|
KCR
|
27
|
James Shields
|
2013-05-17
|
OAK
|
L 1-2
|
WSN
|
26
|
Jordan Zimmermann
|
2013-05-18
|
SDP
|
L 1-2
|
ARI
|
24
|
Patrick Corbin
|
2013-05-20
|
COL
|
W 5-1
|
CHW
|
19
|
Jake Peavy
|
2013-05-25
|
MIA
|
W 2-1
|
CHC
|
17
|
Jeff Samardzija
|
2013-05-27
|
CHW
|
W 7-0
|
LAD
|
16
|
Hyun-jin Ryu
|
2013-05-28
|
LAA
|
W 3-0
|
OAK
|
13
|
Bartolo Colon
|
2013-05-31
|
CHW
|
W 3-0
|
STL
|
12
|
Adam Wainwright
|
2013-06-01
|
SFG
|
W 7-1
|
PHI
|
10
|
Kyle Kendrick
|
2013-06-03
|
MIA
|
W 7-2
|
NYY
|
8
|
CC Sabathia
|
2013-06-05
|
CLE
|
W 6-4
|
DET
|
3
|
Doug Fister
|
2013-06-10
|
KCR
|
L 2-3
|
SEA
|
2
|
Aaron Harang
|
2013-06-11
|
HOU
|
W 4-0
|
All data from Baseball-Reference.com, post inspired by a discussion with Nicole Hasse (@NicoleHasse) of Brew Crew Ball.