What's with all these 1-0 games in spring training?

VIERA, Fla. (AP) A curious thing happened at Space Coast Stadium this week: When the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals went to extra innings, the scoreboard suddenly shut down.

No numbers, no lights, no nothing.

Yoenis Cespedes, Ryan Zimmerman and the rest of the hitters didn't really need the thing to keep track, anyway. Final score? In 10 innings Thursday, it was 0-0.

All over, spring training is adding up to a big zero for some All-Star sluggers and their teams.

A look at the stats and what's causing the missing bats:

MARCH BADNESS

Halfway through the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues, there already have been seven 1-0 games. Odd? Well, there haven't been more than five 1-0 finals in exhibition play during any of the past five years, STATS said.

''I just think that the regulars sometimes aren't ready,'' Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. ''We might score 20 tomorrow.''

PITCHERS AHEAD OF HITTERS?

That's always a popular theory around this time. Jordan Zimmermann and the aces limber up early, Ryan Braun and the boppers take longer to get loose.

''If you're struggling in the beginning, you say it's timing,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

But hitting has been on the downswing in recent years. Last season, the run rate was the lowest in the regular season in more than three decades.

Overall, games this spring are totaling slightly more than nine runs; it was nearly 11 per game in 2009.

BOXED IN

Major League Baseball's new pace-of-play guidelines want hitters to stay in the batter's box, hoping to speed up the action. That's not an easy task for some players accustomed to taking a short stroll after each pitch. A lot of hitters say they need those extra few seconds to gather themselves.

Could that adjustment - and many hitters are actively trying to comply - be throwing them off a little?

Seattle outfielder Dustin Ackley says no.

''I don't think anybody's really thinking about any of those rules right now, for sure,'' he said. ''It's just one of those things, guys getting at-bats. Myself, I feel like I was getting jammed those first three, four, five games. I think that's pretty much it.''