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No Runs to Start the Season

Posted by Raphy on April 10, 2008

On each of the next three days there will be a pitcher trying to match the longest streak (post 1956) of starts without a run allowed to begin the season. The three pitchers who have not allowed a run in their first two starts of 2008 are Oliver Perez, Kyle Lohse and Ben Sheets. This in itself is unremarkable. There have been 82 pitchers who have accomplished this since 1956. However, if they can do it one more time, then they would join a small group of five pitchers to have done it for 3 starts to start a season . Lohse is scheduled to pitch on Friday, Sheets on Saturday and Perez on Sunday.

Here is the list of such streaks.

These are the five pitchers who have started a season by not allowing a runs in their first 3 starts.

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L   GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR   ERA  HBP  WP  BK Teams

+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 Woody Williams     2003-04-02  2003-04-18     3    3   0   3   0   0   0   0   19.2   11    0    0    3   13   0   0.00   1   0   0 STL

 Ryan Jensen        2002-04-04  2002-04-15     3    1   0   3   0   0   0   0   14.1    9    0    0    4   10   0   0.00   0   0   0 SFG

 Tommy Greene       1991-05-01  1991-05-28     3    3   0   3   2   2   0   0   24      5    0    0    9   24   0   0.00   1   0   0 PHI

 Luis Tiant         1966-04-17  1966-05-03     3    3   0   3   3   3   0   0   27     14    0    0    8   25   0   0.00   0   0   0 CLE

 Don Larsen         1958-04-15  1958-05-13     3    3   0   3   2   2   0   0   23     15    0    0   10   11   0   0.00   0   0   0 NYY

Interestingly enough, Luis Tiant is the only one to have actually thrown 3 shutouts in those starts.

5 Responses to “No Runs to Start the Season”

  1. mmayes Says:

    1. Ryan Jensen's third start only lasted 2/3 of an inning. Whatever happened to him, anyway? Injuries?

    2. Tommy Greene had a few relief appearances to start the season, a 6 inning start, a few more relief appearances. Then he had a no-hitter (walking 7) and a 3-hitter (walking none) back-to-back. That's the most variety in these starts.

  2. Raphy Says:

    Here's the list with pitchers who only started (eliminating Tommy Greene).

  3. TGIF Reading: Drunk and belligerent | umpbump.com Says:

    [...] The Red Sox and the homers they hit, from Me and Pedro. An excellent chuckle (at least for Sox fans). Since 1956, only 5 pitchers have gone their first three starts without giving up a run. Today, tomorrow, and Sunday, three pitchers will try to match this feat—Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, and Kyle Lohse. Get the details from Baseball Reference’s Stat of the Day. [...]

  4. mmayes Says:

    Take Lohse off the list. A run in the 2nd and a run in the 4th (so far) and he got off lucky with the OF throwing out 2 guys at the plate.

  5. Stat of the Day » Fernando’s Wild Ride to Start ‘85 Says:

    [...] now that all 3 pitchers (see No Runs to Start the Season) failed in their attempts to start the season with three consecutive runless starts, our attention [...]