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Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Pitchers rule early, shutouts pile up all over big leagues

San Diego Padres' Matt Kemp tosses his bat after striking out to end the eighth inning in the Padres' 1-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants in 12 innings in a baseball game Thursday, April 9, 2015, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
San Diego Padres' Matt Kemp tosses his bat after striking out to end the eighth inning in the Padres' 1-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants in 12 innings in a baseball game Thursday, April 9, 2015, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi) San Diego Padres' Matt Kemp tosses his bat after striking out to end the eighth inning in the Padres' 1-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants in 12 innings in a baseball game Thursday, April 9, 2015, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

By the time the San Francisco Giants eked out a run in the 12th inning, it was too late. The brand new scoreboard at Petco Park had already run out of room for more zeros.

Seems like a pretty common problem all over the majors.

When Tim Hudson and a half-dozen Giants relievers blanked San Diego 1-0 on Thursday, it marked the 14th shutout in 46 major league games this season.

A big number? Well, there were 13 shutouts through the first 101 games last year.

“Out of the gate, the pitchers are really sort of dominating the league so far,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said.