On May 22, Zack Greinke took a 5-1 lead into the ninth inning for the Diamondbacks against the White Sox. He had thrown just 95 pitches through eight innings, was pitching with an extra day of rest and had dominated, with 11 strikeouts. He picked up his 12th strikeout to begin the ninth. With two outs, Jose Abreu doubled on Greinke’s 104th pitch, and Greinke was removed from the game.
The complete game isn’t quite dead yet, but as that game shows, when a staff ace with a comfortable lead and moderate pitch count isn’t allowed to finish, the complete game is certainly on life support.