Scoreless innings streak

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Orel Hershiser's 59 scoreless innings in 1988 is a Major League Baseball record Orel Hershiser 1993.jpg
Orel Hershiser's 59 scoreless innings in 1988 is a Major League Baseball record

In baseball, a scoreless innings streak is the number of consecutive official innings in which a pitcher appears and allows no runs. Such a streak will end when the pitcher allows a run, earned or unearned. Since 1998, the Official Baseball Rules state that a pitcher does not get credit for any outs recorded during an inning in which he is charged with an earned or unearned run. [1]

Contents

Orel Hershiser holds the Major League Baseball record of 59 consecutive scoreless innings which began on August 20, 1988 and ended on September 28, 1989, breaking Don Drysdale's record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings in 1968, the "Year of the Pitcher." [2] Drysdale and Hershiser are the only pitchers to record a 50-inning streak in the live ball era; Walter Johnson and Jack Coombs both also recorded 50 consecutive scoreless innings, with Johnson's 55-inning streak being the MLB record for 55 years and still being the American League record and Coombs' 53-inning streak being the record before that. [3]

Mariano Rivera holds the postseason record for consecutive scoreless innings, with 33+13. The second-longest postseason streak was pitched by Whitey Ford, whose 33 consecutive scoreless innings is a World Series record; Ford broke Babe Ruth's 43-year-old record of 29 scoreless innings. Christy Mathewson holds the National League record with 28 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason. [4]

Major League Baseball

Regular season

The following is a list of Major League pitchers with at least 40 consecutive scoreless innings pitched. Only Walter Johnson and Luis Tiant have multiple streaks of at least 40 scoreless innings, with two each.

Don Drysdale's then-record 58 scoreless innings streak in 1968 included six consecutive shutouts, a Major League record. Don Drysdale - Los Angeles Dodgers - 1961.jpg
Don Drysdale's then-record 58 scoreless innings streak in 1968 included six consecutive shutouts, a Major League record.
Walter Johnson's 55 consecutive scoreless innings in 1913 was the Major League record for 55 years and remains the American League record Walter Johnson 1924.jpg
Walter Johnson's 55 consecutive scoreless innings in 1913 was the Major League record for 55 years and remains the American League record
#PlayerTeamIPStarting dateEnding date
1 Orel Hershiser Los Angeles Dodgers 59 August 30, 1988September 28, 1988
2 Don Drysdale Los Angeles Dodgers 58May 14, 1968June 8, 1968
3 Walter Johnson Washington Senators 55+23April 10, 1913May 14, 1913
4 Jack Coombs Philadelphia Athletics 53September 5, 1910September 25, 1910
5 Bob Gibson St. Louis Cardinals 47June 2, 1968June 26, 1968
6 Zack Greinke Los Angeles Dodgers 45+23June 18, 2015June 26, 2015
7 Carl Hubbell New York Giants 45+13June 13, 1933August 1, 1933
8 Cy Young Boston Americans 45April 25, 1904May 17, 1904
Doc White Chicago White Sox September 12, 1904September 30, 1904
Sal Maglie New York Giants August 16, 1950September 4, 1950
11 Zac Gallen Arizona Diamondbacks 44+13August 8, 2022September 11, 2022
12 Ed Reulbach Chicago Cubs 44September 17, 1908October 3, 1908
13 Rube Waddell Philadelphia Athletics 43+23August 22, 1905September 5, 1905
14 Rube Foster Boston Red Sox 42May 1, 1914May 29, 1914
Brandon Webb Arizona Diamondbacks July 20, 2007August 17, 2007
16 Jack Chesbro Pittsburgh Pirates 41June 26, 1902July 16, 1902
Grover Cleveland Alexander Philadelphia Phillies September 7, 1911September 24, 1911
Art Nehf Boston Braves September 13, 1917October 4, 1917
Ted Lyons Chicago White Sox August 9, 1926August 26, 1926
Luis Tiant Cleveland Indians April 28, 1968May 17, 1968
Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers June 13, 2014July 10, 2014
22 Walter Johnson Washington Senators 40May 7, 1918May 26, 1918
Gaylord Perry San Francisco Giants August 28, 1967September 10, 1967
Luis Tiant Boston Red Sox August 19, 1972September 8, 1972

Postseason

The following is a list of pitchers with at least 20 consecutive postseason scoreless innings. Mariano Rivera holds the postseason record, and Whitey Ford holds the World Series record. [5]

Mariano Rivera in Yankee dugout on Sep 25 1999.jpg
Whitey Ford 1953 Bowman.jpg
Mariano Rivera (left) holds the postseason record of 33+13 consecutive scoreless innings. Whitey Ford (right) holds the World Series record with 33 consecutive scoreless innings.
#PlayerTeam(s)IPYear(s)Starting dateEnding date
1 Mariano Rivera New York Yankees 33+131998–2000September 29, 1998October 13, 2000
2 Whitey Ford New York Yankees 331960–1962October 8, 1960October 4, 1962
3 Babe Ruth Boston Red Sox 291916, 1918October 9, 1916September 9, 1918
4 Christy Mathewson New York Giants 281905, 1911October 9, 1905October 14, 1911
5 Jonathan Papelbon Boston Red Sox 262005, 2007–09October 5, 2005October 9, 2009
6 Madison Bumgarner San Francisco Giants 242014, 2016October 26, 2014October 10, 2016
7 Jeremy Affeldt San Francisco Giants 23+132010, 2012, 2014October 30, 2010October 29, 2014
Andrew Miller Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees
Cleveland Indians
2014–2016October 2, 2014October 28, 2016
9 Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers 221965–1966October 11, 1965October 6, 1966
10 Ken Dayley St. Louis Cardinals 20+131985, 1987October 9, 1985October 22, 1987
Trevor Rosenthal St. Louis Cardinals 2012–2013October 8, 2012October 30, 2013

See also

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References

  1. "Consecutive Scoreless Innings Pitched Records". Baseball Almanac.
  2. Wexler, Sarah (September 28, 2022). "Here's how Hershiser's historic streak happened". MLB.com .
  3. Simon, Andrew (September 12, 2022). "Longest scoreless innings streaks in history". MLB.com .
  4. Kelly, Matt. "Ford breaks Ruth's World Series scoreless innings streak". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
  5. Nowak, Joey (September 3, 2013). "Mo eclipsed Whitey to enter class by himself". MLB.com . Retrieved October 28, 2024.