Samardzija makes history - for all the wrong reasons

The beginning of the 2014 season has been historic for Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija, but in ways neither he nor the Cubs would like.

Samardzija picked up a no-decision in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees at Wrigley Field. His record held at 0-4, and he lowered his ERA from 1.62 to a major-league best 1.46.

According to research by the Elias Sports Bureau and reported Thursday by the Cubs, Samardzija's 1.46 ERA is the lowest for pitcher without a win through the first 10 starts of a season by any pitcher in major-league history.

Elias also reports that Samardzija is the first pitcher to lead his league in ERA on May 22 or later without a win since Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter led the National League with a 0.89 ERA on June 7, 1977. Sutter was with the Cubs then.

After Wednesday's game, Samardzija has a 16-start winless streak. He has a 2.99 ERA during the streak, during which he is 0-6 with 10 no decisions. During this stretch, he has allowed no earned runs in 4 starts, 1 earned run or fewer in 7 starts and 2 earned runs or fewer in 10 starts. As a team, the Cubs are 2-14 in the outings.

The Cubs are in San Diego this weekend. Samardzija's last win came at Petco Park a 3-2 win against the Padres last Aug. 24.

Bryant keeps hitting:

Top prospect Kris Bryant, the Cubs' first-round draft choice last year, continued his impressive hitting Thursday for Class AA Tennessee.

In a 6-5 victory over Mobile, Bryant went 3-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI. For the season, Bryant has a line of .335/.431/.623 for an OPS of 1.054. He has 12 home runs and 40 RBI.

Also at Tennessee, Mobile's Jon Griffin tied a Southern League record Wednesday by hitting 4 home runs in a 17-7 victory. Griffin drove in 7.