Consecutive Starts Without Allowing 4 Runs

Posted by Raphy on May 18, 2010

In my earlier post on consecutive games with less than 4 runs, Mark, a reader, wondered about the longest such streaks for starters. Here are the longest streaks of starts without allowing 4 runs (1920-1939,1952-2010).

Overall:

Rk		Strk Start	End	Games	W	L	GS	CG	SHO	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	HBP	WP	BK	Tm
1	Chris Short	1967-04-29	1968-04-19	26	10	11	26	9	3	0	0	199.0	151	48	47	67	148	10	2.13	5	4	0	PHI

2	Dwight Gooden	1985-04-14	1985-08-10	24	18	3	24	12	5	0	0	191.2	133	34	33	48	182	10	1.55	2	2	2	NYM

3	Pedro Martinez	1999-08-03	2000-06-20	23	16	4	23	5	3	0	0	171.1	97	27	23	31	249	9	1.21	12	3	0	BOS
4	Orel Hershiser	1985-08-02	1986-05-25	23	13	3	23	6	1	0	0	169.2	128	43	32	54	114	6	1.70	4	7	1	LAD

5	Johan Santana	2004-06-09	2004-09-29	22	18	2	22	1	1	0	0	159.1	80	26	24	31	204	12	1.36	7	6	0	MIN
6	Pascual Perez	1987-08-22	1988-07-14	22	13	3	22	4	1	0	0	161.2	114	37	34	38	124	10	1.89	3	3	7	MON
7	Larry Dierker	1972-09-22	1974-07-10	22	6	6	22	4	1	0	0	138.0	113	40	36	51	94	11	2.35	3	3	3	HOU

8	Johan Santana	2008-07-22	2009-05-11	21	12	2	21	3	2	0	0	149.2	115	29	25	38	150	9	1.50	3	0	1	NYM
9	Greg Maddux	1997-06-27	1998-04-15	21	11	2	21	4	2	0	0	157.0	127	28	27	11	116	5	1.55	3	0	0	ATL
10	Gaylord Perry	1978-07-21	1979-04-27	21	13	3	21	3	0	0	0	152.0	127	45	36	36	81	5	2.13	3	2	0	SDP
11	Steve Rogers	1978-04-07	1978-07-14	21	11	7	21	11	1	0	0	159.0	126	40	38	45	101	7	2.15	2	0	1	MON
12	Sonny Siebert	1965-05-09	1965-09-10	21	10	6	21	4	1	0	0	132.0	91	36	31	33	132	12	2.11	5	1	0	CLE

13	Erik Bedard	2008-06-08	2009-07-25	20	7	3	20	0	0	0	0	107.2	86	34	31	45	113	9	2.59	5	2	0	SEA
14	Mike Scott	1986-05-09	1986-08-08	20	9	5	20	3	2	0	0	155.2	95	31	28	36	174	9	1.62	0	1	0	HOU

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/18/2010.

To Start a Career:

Rk		Strk Start	End	Games	W	L	GS	CG	SHO	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	HBP	WP	BK	Tm
1	Steve Rogers	1973-07-18	1973-09-25	16	9	5	16	7	3	0	0	128.2	87	24	20	45	59	5	1.40	1	3	1	MON
2	Tom Murphy	1968-06-13	1969-04-13	16	5	6	16	3	0	0	0	105.1	74	33	26	28	59	5	2.22	5	2	0	CAL
3	Gary Peters	1963-05-06	1963-07-28	16	10	3	16	5	3	0	0	118.0	84	22	22	27	97	6	1.68	3	3	0	CHW

4	Josh Johnson	2005-09-30	2006-07-08	13	7	2	13	0	0	0	0	79.1	64	25	18	37	71	5	2.04	3	3	1	FLA
5	Brandon Webb	2003-04-27	2003-07-08	13	6	2	13	1	1	0	0	90.0	69	23	22	23	72	6	2.20	4	4	0	ARI
6	Dustin Hermanson	1997-04-22	1997-06-27	13	3	4	13	0	0	0	0	63.1	53	24	24	30	50	8	3.41	1	1	1	MON
7	Cisco Carlos	1967-08-25	1968-05-19	13	4	4	13	1	1	0	0	73.1	51	19	12	18	41	4	1.47	3	1	0	CHW

8	Fred Klages	1966-09-11	1967-09-11	12	4	4	12	0	0	0	0	57.1	51	23	22	23	20	6	3.45	1	3	0	CHW

9	Joba Chamberlain	2008-06-03	2008-07-30	11	3	1	11	0	0	0	0	60.2	52	18	15	23	69	2	2.23	2	3	2	NYY
10	Carlos Hernandez	2001-08-18	2002-05-21	11	5	2	11	0	0	0	0	67.1	47	17	17	23	52	4	2.27	2	2	1	HOU
11	Ryan Jensen	2001-05-19	2002-04-21	11	2	3	11	0	0	0	0	54.1	49	17	16	25	32	3	2.65	4	1	0	SFG
12	Alan Wirth	1978-04-09	1978-09-15	11	3	4	11	1	1	0	0	50.2	41	19	17	23	19	3	3.02	2	3	1	OAK

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/18/2010.

A lot more names from the recent past than I would have expected. I imagine that this is because pitchers are pulled much earlier in games than they were in the past. Even one of the players from the '60s, Fred Klages, pitched only 57.1 innings in his 12 starts.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at 10:39 am and is filed under Streak Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

11 Responses to “Consecutive Starts Without Allowing 4 Runs”

Djibouti Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 11:46 am
A side note: "To Start A Career" isn't entirely accurate. At least a couple of the guys on that list pitched in several games before their first start.

I had forgotten how good Erik Bedard has been. Unfortunately for him through a combination of injuries and being on the Orioles his W-L record is nothing special.
Roy Moskowitz Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
This is sort of like quality starts, which I think has been an unfairly maligned stat. I would modify the the less than 4 runs to a game ERA of 3.00 or below. I'd like to see which pitchers had the most and the highest pct of starts with game ERAs of 3 or below. I call the raw number of 3.00 or better starts stat WEPP (Win Equvalant Pitching Performance) and the pct metric WEPPP (Win Equvalant Pitching Performance Percentage).
Kahuna Tuna Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
So the pitcher with the most consecutive starts (in this period) allowing fewer than four runs had a losing record during his streak? Ah, the late '60s. Phillies opponents scored zero, one or two runs in 15 of those games started by Chris Short. The Phillies scored zero, one or two runs in 16 of those games, including all 11 of Short's losses.

Short had his best tussles with the eighth-place Dodgers and the fourth-place Reds. He lost twice to the Dodgers 1-0, lost once 3-1, and won once 2-0. Two of his losses were to Don Drysdale. Against the Reds, Short got no decision in a 3-2 Phillies win, then was matched in four straight starts against Milt Pappas. In those games, Short pitched 12 innings and allowed one run in a game that Philly won 2-1 in 18 innings, then took consecutive losses to Pappas by scores of 2-1, 2-1 and 3-1, pitching seven innings in each game. In nine starts against the Dodgers and Reds during this streak, Short had one win and six losses, a 1.67 ERA, a .189 batting average against, and allowed one home run. The Phillies scored 11 runs in those nine starts.

Short lost those two 1-0 games against the Dodgers in 1967. Rotation-mate Jim Bunning lost five 1-0 games. Those five 1-0 losses cost Bunning the NL Cy Young Award.
WanderingWinder Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
The other reason you might be getting so many more from recent times is, obviously, that there are more teams and therefore more games now.
eorns Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Great analysis on a hard-luck loser, Kahuna. And great find on Bunning. I wonder if that's the most 1-0 losses in a season. I wonder what the career mark is for wins and losses?
Johnny Twisto Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I think Walter Johnson has the most 1-0 losses in a career (and the most wins, too?).

I recall that a few years ago, Roger Clemens had the most something since Fergie Jenkins c. 1969 or so. I'm not sure it was 1-0 losses; it may have been most times being shut out.
Mark Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Thanks for posting this Raphy. I thought they would all be from before 1940 to be honest. Cool stat!
Kahuna Tuna Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
JT has it right. From Walter Johnson's Wikipedia page:

"Johnson had a 38-26 record in games decided by a 1-0 score; both his win total and his losses in these games are major league records."
Kahuna Tuna Says:
May 18th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
I wonder if that's the most 1-0 losses in a season.

Maybe, but if it is, Bunning isn't the sole record-holder. George McQuillan was the starting pitcher in five 1-0 losses during his great 1908 season for the Phillies. Retrosheet's Game Log for that year doesn't show whether the starter received the decision.
Gerry Says:
May 19th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Most 1-0 losses in a season is a 6-way tie, at 5: Bill Donovan, Detroit, 1903; Jack Warhop, New York AL, 1914; George McQuillan, Philadelphia NL, 1908; Roger Craig, New York NL, 1963; Jim Bunning, Philadelphia, 1967; Ferguson Jenkins, Chicago NL, 1968.
JeffW Says:
May 27th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Seattle's Doug Fister has a current string of 10 starts in a row (dating back to last season) yielding three runs or fewer.

In the three games he has allowed as many as three runs, one was an eight-inning efforts, while the other two were seven innings. In the latter of the two, one of the runs was unearned.

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