Inbaseball, ascoreless innings streak is the number of consecutive officialinnings in which apitcher appears and allows no runs. Such a streak will end when the pitcher allows a run,earned orunearned. Since 1998, theOfficial 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 theMajor League Baseball record of59 consecutive scoreless innings which began on August 20, 1988 and ended on September 28, 1988, breakingDon 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 thelive ball era;Walter Johnson andJack 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, with33+1⁄3. The second-longest postseason streak was pitched byWhitey Ford, whose 33 consecutive scoreless innings is aWorld Series record; Ford brokeBabe Ruth's 43-year-old record of 29 scoreless innings.Christy Mathewson holds theNational League record with 28 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason.[4]
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 | 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 | July 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 |
The following is a list of pitchers with at least 20 consecutive postseason scoreless innings.Mariano Rivera holds the postseason record, andWhitey Ford holds the World Series record.[5]
| # | 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 |