With a 7-0 record, Tanner Roark is quickly climbing the lists of former Illini pitchers with most wins. No doubt, this is the quickest start any of them has gotten off to in such a short time. Roark has won his seven games in just over a month. His first game for the Nationals was August 7th.
His latest victory was a 7-inning, two-hit scoreless gem against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
| Rk | From | To | W ▾ | L | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken Holtzman | 1965 | 1979 | 174 | 150 | .537 | 3.49 |
| 2 | Cy Falkenberg | 1903 | 1917 | 130 | 123 | .514 | 2.68 |
| 3 | Carl Lundgren | 1902 | 1909 | 91 | 55 | .623 | 2.42 |
| 4 | Fred Beebe | 1906 | 1916 | 62 | 83 | .428 | 2.86 |
| 5 | Dick Barrett | 1933 | 1945 | 35 | 58 | .376 | 4.28 |
| 6 | Big Jeff Pfeffer | 1905 | 1911 | 31 | 39 | .443 | 3.30 |
| 7 | Donn Pall | 1988 | 1998 | 24 | 23 | .511 | 3.63 |
| 8 | Ray Poat | 1942 | 1949 | 22 | 30 | .423 | 4.55 |
| 9 | Dick Hyde | 1955 | 1961 | 17 | 14 | .548 | 3.56 |
| 10 | Howie Judson | 1948 | 1954 | 17 | 37 | .315 | 4.29 |
| 11 | Jeff Innis | 1987 | 1993 | 10 | 20 | .333 | 3.05 |
| 12 | John Ericks | 1995 | 1997 | 8 | 14 | .364 | 4.78 |
| 13 | Tanner Roark | 2013 | 2013 | 7 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.08 |
Generally, these haven’t been cheap wins either. Only once has Roark has given up more than one run in a game. Cub fans can take solace that it was against their team when he gave up two runs in 1 2/3 innings. With the Cubs’ luck, Roark even got the win then, too.
Roark now sports a nice 1.08 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings pitched for the Washington Nationals.
Wow! If nothing changes between now and then, he’s listed as the probable starter for Monday’s game in St. Louis.
He can hit the ball once in awhile, too. He’s at .300–3 for 10 at bats.