What does our offensive production have anything to do with QS's? The only reason Z came out after 5 IP was because of the 9-0 score. A pitcher has to go 6 innings with 3 or fewer runs to get a quality start. I guess next time Lou should tell his players to stop scoring so that Z can chase a meaningless statistic. cubs offense is so selfish JESUS, I was just pointing out a fact No, you weren't. A quality start has to do with the number of runs a pitcher allows, not the number of runs his own team scores. Hmmmmmm, I guess you didn't read the part of this conversation that I highlighted! I already said that. I fully understand how a pitcher qualifies for a QS. Again, my point is Z was removed because of the 9-0 lead. The consequence of the lead was Lou removed Z from the game which meant he had no chance to pitch the next half inning and try to qualify for a quality start. Who knows, he may have given up 4 runs in the next half inning because he had been sitting on the bench for almost 30 minutes while the Cubs batted around... Leaving the game after 5 innings removed the possibilty. Anyway, my point still stands.