Scoreless innings streak

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]

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

A man in a black baseball uniform and a baseball cap with an interlocked white "NY" on the front.
A smiling man in a pinstripe baseball jersey and dark baseball cap with an interlocked white "NY" on the front, holding a baseball
Mariano Rivera (left) holds the postseason record of 33+1⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings. Whitey Ford (right) holds the World Series record with 33 consecutive scoreless innings.
# Player Team(s) IP Year(s) Starting date Ending date
1 Mariano Rivera New York Yankees 33+1⁄3 1998–2000 September 29, 1998 October 13, 2000
2 Whitey Ford New York Yankees 33 1960–1962 October 8, 1960 October 4, 1962
3 Babe Ruth Boston Red Sox 29 1916, 1918 October 9, 1916 September 9, 1918
4 Christy Mathewson New York Giants 28 1905, 1911 October 9, 1905 October 14, 1911
5 Jonathan Papelbon Boston Red Sox 26 2005, 2007–09 October 5, 2005 October 9, 2009
6 Madison Bumgarner San Francisco Giants 24 2014, 2016 October 26, 2014 October 10, 2016
7 Jeremy Affeldt San Francisco Giants 23+1⁄3 2010, 2012, 2014 October 30, 2010 October 29, 2014
Andrew Miller Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees
Cleveland Indians 		2014–2016 October 2, 2014 October 28, 2016
9 Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers 22 1965–1966 October 11, 1965 October 6, 1966
10 Ken Dayley St. Louis Cardinals 20+1⁄3 1985, 1987 October 9, 1985 October 22, 1987
Trevor Rosenthal St. Louis Cardinals 2012–2013 October 8, 2012 October 30, 2013

See also

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.