They had five in the 2000 season. The Padres' opponents managed four. Clearly, part of the reason starters don't go nine is the modern managing preference for closers. When you've got a Trevor Hoffman notching 53 saves in 54 tries, as he did in 1998, it's hard to argue with the strategy. But in effect the use of setup men and closers has changed the mindset of starters, and not for the better.
Few pitchers take the mound expecting to throw nine innings.
So we asked longtime scout and former big-league manager Dave Garcia for his opinion. What they did was finish. Garcia managed the Angels and Indians in the 1970s, when neither team was especially competitive. Garcia didn't count pitches. He let the game dictate when his pitcher was finished.