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Scoreless innings streak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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+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

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Regular season

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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

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.

# Player Team IP Year(s)
1 Orel Hershiser Los Angeles Dodgers 59 1988
2 Don Drysdale Los Angeles Dodgers 58 1968
3 Walter Johnson Washington Senators 55 1913
4 Jack Coombs Philadelphia Athletics 53 1910
5 Bob Gibson St. Louis Cardinals 47 1968
6 Cy Young Boston Americans 45 1904
Doc White Chicago White Sox 1904
Carl Hubbell New York Giants 1933
Sal Maglie New York Giants 1950
Zack Greinke Los Angeles Dodgers 2015
7 Ed Reulbach Chicago Cubs 44 1908
R. A. Dickey New York Mets 2012
Zac Gallen Arizona Diamondbacks 2022
8 Rube Waddell Philadelphia Athletics 43 1905
9 Rube Foster Boston Red Sox 42 1914
Brandon Webb Arizona Diamondbacks 2007
10 Jack Chesbro Pittsburgh Pirates 41 1902
Grover Cleveland
Alexander
Philadelphia Phillies 1911
Art Nehf Boston Braves 1917
Ted Lyons Chicago White Sox 1926
Luis Tiant Cleveland Indians 1968
Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers 2014
11 Walter Johnson Washington Senators 40 1918
Gaylord Perry San Francisco Giants 1967
Luis Tiant Boston Red Sox 1972

Postseason

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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 holds the postseason record of 33+13 consecutive scoreless innings. Whitey Ford's 33 consecutive scoreless innings is the World Series record.

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]

# Player Team IP Year(s)
1 Mariano Rivera New York Yankees 33+13 1998–2000
2 Whitey Ford New York Yankees 33 1960–1962
3 Babe Ruth Boston Red Sox 29 1916, 1918
4 Christy Mathewson New York Giants 28 1905, 1911
5 Madison Bumgarner San Francisco Giants 24 2014, 2016
6 Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers 22 1965–1966

See also

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References

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  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.