Orel Hershiser owns the MLB record for the longest scoreless streak in history at 59 innings, which he set with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988.
Only five pitchers have reached 50 consecutive scoreless innings, and the latest to reach that mark was Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Sánchez threw 50.2 consecutive scoreless innings before losing it in his start on Wednesday, so he fell 8.1 innings shy of tying Hershiser for the MLB record.
While many players want to see their records protected, Hershiser was rooting for Sánchez to break it, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
“I was rooting for him because I know how special it is in your life,’’ Hershiser said. “He’s having a great year. He’s got to be the front-runner for the Cy Young. He’s got ridiculous stuff. And he’s a strikeout pitcher, much more of a strikeout pitcher than I was.”
The streak was broken up by the San Diego Padres when Jackson Merril hit a two-out single in the seventh inning that scored Ty France from second base. Still, Sánchez made five straight starts in May while going at least seven innings without allowing a run and likely pushed himself into being the early Cy Young favorite.
Somewhat of a consolation prize for Sánchez is he now holds the longest scoreless innings streak in MLB history by a left-handed pitcher, and the longest one of the 2000s.
Sánchez is joined by Hershiser, Don Drysdale (Dodgers), Walter Johnson (Washington Senators), Jack Coombs (Philadelphia Athletics) as the only pitchers to throw 50 consecutive scoreless innings.
It’s incredibly rare to see a pitcher stack together scoreless innings for such a significant stretch. Since 1900, only 11 pitchers have posted a scoreless inning streak of 45 innings or more.
Dodgers on scoreless innings streak list
There have been 23 pitchers since 1900 to throw at least 40 consecutive scoreless innings, and it has only been accomplished 25 times. Johnson and Luis Tiant are the only pitchers to have two separate 40+ inning scoreless streaks.
But the Dodgers are represented four times on the list and hold the top two spots.
Hershiser, of course, stands alone in the top spot with 59 consecutive innings, but he broke the record that was previously held by Don Drysdale, who threw 58 scoreless innings for the Dodgers from May 14-June 8 in 1968.
Zack Greinke checks in at seventh on the all-time list with 45.2 innings from June 18 to July 26 in his phenomenal 2015 season.
Clayton Kershaw is tied for the 17th-longest scoreless innings streak in MLB history with 41, which he accomplished from June 13 to July 10 in 2014.
If the list is shortened to the Live Ball Era (Since 1920), Hershiser and Drysdale still own the top spots, while Greinke moves up to fifth and Kershaw is in a three-way tie for 10th.
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