June 27, 2010 – Carl Pavano tossed a three-hitter yesterday as the Twins easily defeated the Mets, 6-0, in New York, just six days after he had thrown a four-hitter in a 4-1 victory in Philadelphia. Oh, yes, did we mention that Pavano defeated past Cy Young Award winners in each of those games? Johan Santana took the loss on Saturday, after Pavano had downed Roy Halladay last Sunday.
Pavano is the first major leaguer in more than 20 years to earn consecutive complete-game victories, both on the road, over past Cy Young Award winners. The last pitcher to do it was Houston’s Jim Deshaies, who in 1989 threw consecutive complete-game wins, defeating Dwight Gooden at Shea Stadium and Rick Sutcliffe at Wrigley Field.
By the way, Pavano also had two singles against the Mets, although neither was involved in any run-scoring by the Twins. He became the first American League pitcher in the DH era to throw a complete-game shutout and get at least two hits in the same game. The last A.L. pitcher to do that was Clyde Wright of the Angels against the Rangers on Sept. 14, 1972.