Archive for the 'Streak Finders' Category

There has been much speculation in New England that David Ortiz's career as a power hitter is over. Aside from the stats, bystanders have claimed that his bat speed is dramatically reduced and that his physique looks even worse than usual. But today I heard Jerry Remy dispute those claims and say that Ortiz is just pressing. Right now, Remy claims, Ortiz is concentrating on hitting to the opposite field and hoping that his pull power returns on its own.

I don't have enough information to judge those things for myself, but let's look at the numbers. Here are his last 23 games through Tuesday night (dating back to last season):

That's 22 hits in 23 games, including no homers and just 10 extra-base hits for a .647 OPS. All players go through slumps, but this one is pretty bad.

Interestingly, this is not the longest streak in Ortiz's career without a homer. Here they are:

 StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  1998-09-12  2000-06-07    52    143   10   34  10   0   0   19   34   14    1   0  .238  .304  .308  .612 MIN                                         

  2002-04-18  2002-07-04    42    127   10   31  11   0   0   19   20   12    0   0  .244  .299  .331  .630 MIN                                         

  2000-07-08  2000-08-16    34    120   20   40  12   0   0   19   22   16    0   0  .333  .403  .433  .836 MIN                                         

  1998-07-18  1998-08-23    29    100   14   19   5   0   0   10   25   16    1   0  .190  .308  .240  .548 MIN                                         

  2008-09-23  2009-04-28    23     92   12   22   9   1   0   13   23    7    0   1  .239  .288  .359  .647 BOS                                         

The good news is that Ortiz has a long way to go before his current streak (5th on the list) reaches to top. The bad news is that the four longer streaks all came when he was still with the Twins, before he became the power hitter he was at his height with the Red Sox.

What surprises me is the degree to which Ortiz has dropped off. All players age and all players eventually retire. But few drop off so suddenly. I'm personally inclined to think that he still has some sort of injury that's limiting his performance.

Last night, Zack Grienke won his 5th game of the year in his 5th start, but he broke his string of starts allowing no earned runs. Turns out he set the record for most starts allowing no runs and getting the win from the start of a season (1954 to present):

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L   GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR   ERA  HBP  WP  BK Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Zack Greinke       2009-04-08  2009-04-24     4    4   0   4   2   1   0   0   29     19    1    0    6   36   0   0.00   1   1   0 KCR                                  

 Dontrelle Willis   2004-04-08  2004-04-20     3    3   0   3   0   0   0   0   19.1   13    1    0    5   15   0   0.00   2   0   0 FLA                                  
 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                                  
 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                                  
 Roger Moret        1973-04-22  1973-08-02     3    3   0   3   2   2   0   0   23.2   16    1    0   11   18   0   0.00   0   0   0 BOS                                  
 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                                  
 Tom Cheney         1963-04-11  1963-04-26     3    3   0   3   3   2   0   0   27      8    1    0    2   26   0   0.00   0   0   0 WSA                                  
 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                                  

Greinke allowed 2 ER in 7 IP last night but still got the win. His troubles have been well-documented and this is a guy we should all root for to continue to succeed.

Greinke is the cover story on this week's Sports Illustrated. Click on the image above to read the story on their web site.

This is a simple batting streak finder for most games at the start of a career with at least 1 RBI, going back to 1954:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Gene Baker         1954-04-13  1954-04-24     7     26   10   12   3   0   4   10    0    7    0   0  .462  .576 1.038 1.614 CHC                                         

 Faye Throneberry   1955-04-12  1955-04-17     6     25   12   10   4   0   3   12    3    2    0   0  .400  .429  .920 1.349 BOS                                         

 Mike Lansing       1993-04-07  1993-04-11     5     26    6   12   2   0   2    8    1    1    0   0  .462  .481  .769 1.250 MON                                         
 Bobby Knoop        1964-04-13  1964-04-21     5     17    2    3   0   0   2    5    4    2    0   0  .176  .263  .529  .792 LAA                                         

 Jesse Barfield     1981-09-03  1981-09-06     4     15    1    4   1   0   1    6    2    1    1   1  .267  .313  .533  .846 TOR                                         
 Ron Cash           1973-09-04  1973-09-10     4     16    4    8   0   1   0    4    1    0    0   0  .500  .471  .625 1.096 DET                                         

 Jed Lowrie         2008-04-15  2008-04-20     3     12    3    5   3   0   0    5    5    0    0   0  .417  .385  .667 1.052 BOS                                         
 Alex Romero        2008-04-03  2008-04-08     3      2    0    2   0   0   0    3    0    0    0   0 1.000  .667 1.000 1.667 ARI                                         
 Shelley Duncan     2007-07-20  2007-07-22     3     12    3    4   0   0   3    7    4    2    0   0  .333  .429 1.083 1.512 NYY                                         
 Jeff Salazar       2006-09-07  2006-09-10     3      9    5    5   1   0   0    5    1    4    1   0  .556  .643  .667 1.310 COL                                         
 Jason Bay          2003-05-23  2003-08-27     3     11    3    4   2   0   1    3    2    2    0   0  .364  .462  .818 1.280 SDP-PIT                                     
 Reed Johnson       2003-04-20  2003-05-17     3      9    3    5   2   0   1    3    2    0    0   1  .556  .636 1.111 1.747 TOR                                         
 Hideki Matsui      2003-03-31  2003-04-02     3     14    0    4   2   0   0    3    3    0    0   0  .286  .267  .429  .696 NYY                                         
 Jason Tyner        2000-06-05  2000-06-08     3     11    0    3   0   0   0    3    2    1    0   1  .273  .308  .273  .581 NYM                                         
 Yamil Benitez      1995-09-16  1995-09-19     3      9    2    5   0   1   1    3    0    0    0   0  .556  .556 1.111 1.667 MON                                         
 Shane Andrews      1995-04-27  1995-04-29     3     10    3    5   2   0   2    5    4    1    0   0  .500  .545 1.300 1.845 MON                                         
 Pete Coachman      1990-08-18  1990-08-20     3     14    1    6   1   0   0    4    3    0    0   0  .429  .429  .500  .929 CAL                                         
 Mike Ramsey        1987-04-06  1987-04-08     3     12    2    5   0   1   0    3    4    0    0   0  .417  .417  .583 1.000 LAD                                         
 Rey Quinones       1986-05-17  1986-05-20     3     10    4    3   2   0   0    4    2    3    0   1  .300  .462  .500  .962 BOS                                         
 George Bjorkman    1983-07-10  1983-07-13     3     10    1    4   0   0   1    7    1    1    0   0  .400  .455  .700 1.155 HOU                                         
 Joe Lefebvre       1980-05-22  1980-05-24     3      8    2    4   0   0   2    5    2    1    0   0  .500  .556 1.250 1.806 NYY                                         
 Danny Ainge        1979-05-21  1979-05-23     3     10    4    6   0   0   0    3    1    1    0   0  .600  .636  .600 1.236 TOR                                         
 Ramon Aviles       1979-05-04  1979-05-07     3      9    3    5   2   0   0    4    1    1    0   0  .556  .600  .778 1.378 PHI                                         
 Paul Molitor       1978-04-07  1978-04-09     3     16    4    7   0   0   1    7    0    0    0   0  .438  .438  .625 1.063 MIL                                         
 Ruppert Jones      1976-08-01  1976-08-07     3     12    2    4   1   1   0    5    1    1    0   1  .333  .385  .583  .968 KCR                                         
 Jim Rice           1974-08-19  1974-08-23     3      9    0    2   0   0   0    4    1    0    0   0  .222  .250  .222  .472 BOS                                         
 Gomer Hodge        1971-04-06  1971-04-11     3      4    1    4   2   0   0    4    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 1.500 2.500 CLE                                         
 Al Gallagher       1970-04-07  1970-04-09     3     12    2    6   1   1   0    3    1    0    0   0  .500  .462  .750 1.212 SFG                                         
 Thurman Munson     1969-08-08  1969-08-12     3      9    3    3   0   0   1    4    3    4    0   0  .333  .538  .667 1.205 NYY                                         
 Coco Laboy         1969-04-08  1969-04-10     3     11    2    6   3   0   1    5    2    2    0   0  .545  .615 1.091 1.706 MON                                         
 Roberto Pena       1965-04-12  1965-04-14     3     13    4    5   1   0   2    5    2    1    0   0  .385  .429  .923 1.352 CHC                                         
 Bill Freehan       1961-09-26  1961-10-01     3     10    1    4   0   0   0    4    0    1    0   0  .400  .455  .400  .855 DET                                         
 R.C. Stevens       1958-04-15  1958-04-20     3      4    2    4   0   0   2    4    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 2.500 3.500 PIT                                         
 Jim Finigan        1954-04-25  1954-05-01     3     10    0    5   1   0   0    3    1    3    0   1  .500  .615  .600 1.215 PHA                                         
 Sammy White        1954-04-13  1954-04-18     3     10    2    7   2   0   2    6    0    0    0   0  .700  .700 1.500 2.200 BOS                                         

Well, hold your horses...Gene Baker is not the leader, because his career actually started in 1953. The box scores (and hence the streak finder) doesn't back before 1954. Same goes for Sammy White, last guy on the list, as his career started earlier. But Jim Finigan did start in 1954, so he counts.

This list is certainly a varied bunch. For every Paul Molitor and Jim Rice there is a Rey Quinones and Coco Laboy.

So I guess this is more trivial point of itnerest than anything else...

Here's a Pitching Game Streak Finder search for most consecutive appearances by a pitcher where he recorded 1 or zero outs. I expected to see some left-handed specialists here, and the first guy to come to mind was Mike Myers.

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L   GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR   ERA  HBP  WP  BK Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Royce Ring         2008-04-21  2008-05-09    10    1   0   0   0   0   0   0    3      0    0    0    1    4   0   0.00   1   0   1 ATL                                  
 Mike Myers         2001-08-12  2001-09-17    10    0   1   0   0   0   1   0    2      6    4    4    3    2   0  18.00   0   0   0 COL                                  
 John Candelaria    1991-08-21  1991-09-29    10    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    3     10    5    5    2    6   0  15.00   0   0   0 LAD                                  

 Trever Miller      2007-06-13  2007-06-28     9    0   0   0   0   0   2   0    2.1    5    3    3    3    4   0  11.57   0   0   0 HOU                                  
 Jesse Orosco       2003-08-05  2003-08-25     9    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    1.2    3    5    4    3    1   0  21.60   0   0   0 NYY                                  
 Jesse Orosco       1999-08-04  1999-08-25     9    0   0   0   0   0   1   0    2.2    2    1    1    1    3   0   3.38   0   0   0 BAL                                  
 Tony Fossas        1992-07-29  1992-08-22     9    0   1   0   0   0   0   0    2.1    3    1    0    1    3   0   0.00   1   0   0 BOS                                  

 Bill Bray          2008-09-05  2008-09-26     8    0   1   0   0   0   1   0    2.1    1    1    1    1    5   0   3.86   0   0   0 CIN                                  
 Ron Villone        2008-08-24  2008-09-09     8    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    1.1    2    2    2    3    1   0  13.50   1   1   0 STL                                  
 Damaso Marte       2007-09-07  2008-04-02     8    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    2.2    7    8    8    2    3   2  27.00   0   0   0 PIT                                  
 John Franco        2004-10-03  2005-04-21     8    0   1   0   0   0   0   0    2      6    2    1    1    2   0   4.50   1   0   0 NYM-HOU                              
 Scott Eyre         2004-07-15  2004-07-26     8    0   0   0   0   0   3   1    2.1    3    1    1    1    1   0   3.86   0   0   0 SFG                                  
 Scott Eyre         2004-06-23  2004-07-03     8    0   0   0   0   0   1   0    1.2    2    0    0    2    3   0   0.00   0   1   0 SFG                                  
 Jesse Orosco       2002-08-31  2002-09-20     8    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    2      2    1    1    1    2   1   4.50   0   0   0 LAD                                  
 Armando Almanza    2000-09-08  2000-09-27     8    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    2.2    4    4    4    5    2   0  13.50   1   0   0 FLA                                  
 Jason Christianse  2000-09-03  2000-09-22     8    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    2.1    3    0    0    1    1   0   0.00   0   0   0 STL                                  
 Mike Holtz         1997-05-14  1997-06-06     8    0   0   0   0   0   1   1    2.1    5    1    1    0    3   1   3.86   0   0   0 ANA                                  
 Larry Casian       1995-08-27  1995-09-13     8    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    1     10    2    2    1    0   0  18.00   0   0   0 CHC                                  
 Tony Fossas        1993-09-10  1993-09-25     8    0   0   0   0   0   0   0    2      2    4    3    1    2   0  13.50   1   0   0 BOS                                  
 Tony Fossas        1993-08-26  1993-09-05     8    0   0   0   0   0   2   0    2      2    2    2    0    3   0   9.00   0   0   0 BOS                                  
 Tony Fossas        1992-07-08  1992-07-25     8    1   0   0   0   0   1   0    2.2    1    0    0    0    1   0   0.00   0   0   0 BOS                                  
 Mike Barlow        1980-09-17  1981-04-11     8    0   0   0   0   0   1   1    2.2   10    8    7    6    0   1  23.63   1   2   0 TOR        

Well, well, well, looks like I know a thing or two. Myers got hammered pretty good in his streak. Of those 10 games, 7 were scoreless, but in the other 3 he allowed 4 runs while recording only 2 outs. All 10 appearances added up to just 6 outs.

I was surprised to see Candelaria on there, as he's a guy I think of as exlusively a starter. But indeed towards the end of his career, he too was being used as a left-handed relief specialist, and in fact he never started a game after 1990. He got scored in during 4 of his 10 appearances.

Royce Ring, on the other hand, had a beautiful streak last year, pitching 3 innings over 10 appearances, allowing no hits, one walk,  and no runs.

Many of the other guys on this list are also left-handed relief specialists.

This search was for consecutive wins with no homers. Unlike my last post, this one is what it seems to be...consecutive games that were all wins and featured no homers by the winning team.

 Team    StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Opponents
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 HOU      1969-06-19  1969-06-24     7    7   0   211   32   54  10   4   0   31   40   33    4   4  .256  .359  .341  .700 SDP,SFG                             

 BOS      1999-08-27  1999-09-01     6    6   0   189   37   54  14   0   0   33   29   25    3   0  .286  .373  .360  .733 ANA,KCR                             
 BOS      1997-08-14  1997-08-20     6    6   0   228   45   72  16   3   0   42   31   17    5   1  .316  .365  .412  .777 MIN,OAK                             
 PIT      1996-09-14  1996-09-19     6    6   0   215   38   71  21   0   0   34   30   23    9   3  .330  .405  .428  .833 SFG,CIN                             
 NYM      1995-09-25  1995-10-01     6    6   0   188   31   53   9   3   0   27   38   21    1   0  .282  .355  .362  .717 CIN,ATL                             
 MIN      1993-09-25  1993-09-30     6    6   0   208   34   62  12   1   0   33   25   24    7   4  .298  .373  .365  .738 BOS,CAL                             
 MIL      1989-08-11  1989-08-16     6    6   0   200   29   59  13   1   0   28   18   16    7   1  .295  .345  .370  .715 CLE,NYY                             
 STL      1988-09-06  1988-09-11     6    6   0   173   25   45  11   0   0   22   24   23    8   4  .260  .343  .324  .667 MON,PHI,CHC                         
 HOU      1980-08-17  1980-08-23     6    6   0   229   35   69  14   2   0   34   27   33   10   4  .301  .389  .380  .769 SDP,PIT,CHC                         
 DET      1980-06-21  1980-06-25     6    6   0   222   44   67  13   2   0   41   35   35    6   2  .302  .395  .378  .773 CHW,CLE                             
 HOU      1980-06-03  1980-06-09     6    6   0   199   23   63   7   6   0   20   18   13    8   4  .317  .355  .412  .767 SDP,SFG,CHC                         
 HOU      1979-07-31  1979-08-05     6    6   0   194   28   53  10   3   0   24   41   23   20   4  .273  .349  .356  .705 SFG,ATL                             
 CHC      1977-06-09  1977-06-15     6    6   0   213   23   60   9   2   0   23   29   20    1   2  .282  .342  .343  .685 SFG,SDP                             
 PIT      1974-07-14  1974-07-19     6    6   0   194   28   60   8   3   0   26   21   18    2   2  .309  .367  .381  .748 CIN,HOU,ATL                         
 STL      1973-05-22  1973-05-29     6    6   0   180   21   50  11   0   0   18   18   16    4   4  .278  .338  .339  .677 NYM,ATL,CIN                         
 PIT      1970-06-22  1970-06-28     6    6   0   203   20   53   7   5   0   19   33   17    4   1  .261  .318  .345  .663 STL,CHC                             

It must be stressed that these streaks are only since 1956. I would have to think that there are many longer streaks in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Here's consuective losses with no homers. Again this is consecutive games that were all losses and the loser had no homers.

 Team    StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Opponents
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 NYM      1980-08-31  1980-09-12    13    0  13   429   34   95  11   2   0   31   81   49   14  11  .221  .300  .256  .556 SFG,LAD,SDP,MON,PHI,CHC             

 MON      1969-09-24  1970-04-10    10    0  10   322   18   65  11   4   0   18   59   27    3   3  .202  .270  .261  .531 CHC,STL,PIT,CIN,CHC                 

 CHW      1976-09-14  1976-09-23     9    0   9   301   29   73  13   3   0   27   39   23    2   4  .243  .297  .306  .603 KCR,TEX,MIN                         

 OAK      1978-06-09  1978-06-16     8    0   8   249    9   48   9   0   0    9   46   18   10   2  .193  .246  .229  .475 BAL,NYY,BOS,BAL                     
 SDP      1976-08-28  1976-09-05     8    0   8   250   11   52  11   2   0   10   27   17    2   3  .208  .260  .268  .528 MON,PIT,SFG                         
 TEX      1972-09-14  1972-09-23     8    0   8   256   15   42   7   2   0   14   41   19    4   1  .164  .220  .207  .427 CAL,OAK,MIN,CHW                     
 MON      1972-05-15  1972-05-21     8    0   8   251   12   53  12   0   0   10   41   16    1   3  .211  .262  .259  .521 NYM,PIT                             
 SDP      1971-04-12  1971-04-21     8    0   8   254   12   47   8   0   0   11   41   24    2   0  .185  .257  .217  .474 SFG,CHC,STL,LAD                     
 NYM      1967-08-17  1967-08-27     8    0   8   294   21   79   7   5   0   19   48   10    2   0  .269  .292  .327  .619 PIT,PHI,CHC                         
 WSA      1961-08-25  1961-09-01     8    0   8   264   16   63   5   3   0   15   35   19    4   1  .239  .285  .280  .565 DET,CLE,CHW                         
 STL      1960-05-05  1960-05-14     8    0   8   253   17   51   9   0   0   14   36   33    0   2  .202  .292  .237  .529 PHI,CIN,MLN,CHC                     
 STL      1958-07-27  1958-08-03     8    0   8   267    8   56   3   1   0    8   34   23    0   1  .210  .272  .228  .500 CIN,PHI,PIT                             

Again, there were probably longer streaks before 1956, although a 13-gamer is pretty "impressive."

Since 1956, here are the most consecutive losses a team has had with at least 2 HR:

 Team    StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Opponents
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 CHW      2006-07-24  2006-08-02     5    0   5   174   21   45   5   0  11   21   31    7    2   0  .259  .287  .477  .764 MIN,BAL,KCR
 KCR      2004-04-13  2004-04-17     5    0   5   185   30   49   8   0  16   30   34   16    1   0  .265  .322  .568  .890 CHW,MIN
 HOU      2001-06-15  2001-06-27     5    0   5   183   28   47   9   0  16   27   43   13    0   1  .257  .307  .568  .875 TEX,CIN,ARI
 CLE      2001-05-28  2001-06-10     5    0   5   177   27   52   8   1  14   26   29   17    1   3  .294  .354  .588  .942 DET,NYY,MIN,CIN
 CLE      2000-05-05  2000-05-19     5    0   5   196   35   63  13   0  11   34   36   19    6   1  .321  .381  .556  .937 TOR,MIN,KCR,NYY
 TOR      1999-09-05  1999-09-14     5    0   5   173   22   48   6   0  11   22   29   15    4   2  .277  .333  .503  .836 KCR,SEA,DET,NYY
 SEA      1998-03-31  1998-04-08     5    0   5   180   31   51   8   1  12   30   32   22    2   1  .283  .369  .539  .908 CLE,BOS,NYY
 SEA      1997-08-19  1997-08-28     5    0   5   179   31   52   8   2  15   30   38   22    8   3  .291  .366  .609  .975 CLE,NYY,BOS,COL

Let me explain what this actually means. For the search, I did a team batting streak finder, considered only losses, and then looked for losses with at least 2 HR. So don't confuse this with most consecutive games with 2 HR that were losses. The streaks above might include games in between that were wins, and those wins might have featured 2 HR or more.

My point in doing the search was to show, unsurprisingly, that these streaks are all recent, in an era when hitting 2 homers in a game as a team is far more common than it used to be (and less likely to lead to a team victory.)

Here is what you might have thought I was searching for. These are consecutive games that were all losses and all featured 2+ HR for the losing team:

 Team    StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Opponents
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 KCR      2004-04-13  2004-04-17     5    0   5   185   30   49   8   0  16   30   34   16    1   0  .265  .322  .568  .890 CHW,MIN                             

 CIN      2007-05-24  2007-05-27     4    0   4   148   22   41   5   0  12   21   26   14    0   0  .277  .348  .554  .902 WSN,PIT                             
 MIL      2001-09-26  2001-09-29     4    0   4   149   37   45  13   1  11   37   42   22    7   0  .302  .389  .624 1.013 ARI,COL                             
 PIT      2000-07-14  2000-07-17     4    0   4   140   16   35   4   1  10   15   30   12    1   0  .250  .314  .507  .821 CLE,LAD                             
 TBD      2000-05-15  2000-05-19     4    0   4   133   24   32   5   0  10   24   23   19    0   0  .241  .333  .504  .837 TEX,SEA                             
 TOR      1999-09-05  1999-09-10     4    0   4   134   16   37   5   0   9   16   14   13    4   1  .276  .338  .515  .853 KCR,SEA,DET                         
 ARI      1998-09-27  1999-04-07     4    0   4   145   14   29   3   0  10   14   38    9    2   0  .200  .266  .428  .694 SDP,LAD                             
 BAL      1979-08-05  1979-08-08     4    0   4   132   15   35   5   0   8   15   25    9    1   2  .265  .303  .485  .788 NYY,MIL                             
 BOS      1963-08-07  1963-08-10     4    0   4   138   15   32   2   0   9   14   21    7    0   0  .232  .267  .442  .709 DET,MIN                             
 CHC      1957-07-18  1957-07-20     4    0   4   140   16   32   5   1   9   16   34   11    1   0  .229  .283  .471  .754 PIT,BRO                             

So the KC streak is the only one from the original search still standing.

Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Team Pitching Streak Finder -  since 1956, the longest winning streak by a team's pitching where they faced 32 batters or less in each game:

 Team    StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Opponents
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 OAK      1972-08-27  1972-09-01     5    5   0   138   14   31   1   2   3   14   15   11    0   3  .225  .280  .326  .606 BAL,CLE,DET
 LAD      1988-08-18  1988-08-21     4    4   0   113   12   25   5   0   3   10   17    3    5   1  .221  .237  .345  .582 PHI,MON
 SFG      1963-06-12  1963-06-15     4    4   0   111    8   18   4   0   5    8   16    6    0   2  .162  .205  .333  .538 CHC,HOU
 KCA      1958-05-15  1958-05-18     4    4   0   112   14   23   4   0   4   13   20    4    0   0  .205  .233  .348  .581 CHW,DET                

That run in 1972 was a Sunday to Friday thing.  What happened on the 7th day, that Saturday?  The A's lost, 3-1, facing 44 batters - in extra innings!  But, they won the next day, 3-1, facing just 33 batters, for what it's worth.

So, those A's came pretty darn close to having this streak run for 7 full games.  Nice...

Update:  Yikes!  As you can see from the comments to this entry, I got my tools crossed on this one!  Oh, well, it was a big and quick week for the A's batters back in '72!  At least someone had a good time!  OK, I'm going to go back into my cave now...sorry for the screw up!  Mea culpa.

Here are the most games with an RBI when appearing only as a PH:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Lou Brock          1975-05-03  1975-08-01     5      4    0    2   1   0   0    6    0    1    0   0  .500  .600  .750 1.350 STL                                         

 Albert Pujols      2007-09-21  2008-06-05     4      3    1    3   0   0   1    5    0    1    0   0 1.000 1.000 2.000 3.000 STL                                         
 Matt Kata          2007-08-15  2007-08-28     4      4    2    4   2   0   1    6    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 2.250 3.250 PIT                                         
 Chris Donnels      2001-07-16  2001-09-04     4      3    2    2   0   0   2    4    0    0    0   0  .667  .750 2.667 3.417 LAD                                         
 Erubiel Durazo     2001-04-15  2001-04-26     4      4    4    4   0   0   3    5    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 3.250 4.250 ARI                                         
 David McCarty      2000-07-09  2000-08-05     4      3    0    2   0   0   0    5    0    0    0   0  .667  .500  .667 1.167 KCR                                         
 Paul Konerko       2000-06-05  2000-07-26     4      4    0    4   0   0   0    4    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 CHW                                         
 Nelson Liriano     1996-09-10  1996-09-19     4      2    1    1   0   0   0    4    0    1    0   0  .500  .500  .500 1.000 PIT                                         
 Glenn Wilson       1989-06-11  1989-07-27     4      3    2    3   1   0   0    4    0    1    0   0 1.000 1.000 1.333 2.333 PIT                                         
 Marvell Wynne      1987-07-17  1987-08-06     4      4    0    2   1   0   0    5    0    0    1   0  .500  .500  .750 1.250 SDP                                         
 Manny Mota         1972-07-08  1972-08-30     4      4    1    4   0   0   0    4    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 LAD                                         
 Gene Tenace        1972-07-22  1972-08-10     4      4    0    3   0   1   0    6    0    0    0   0  .750  .750 1.250 2.000 OAK                                         
 Richie Scheinblum  1972-06-01  1972-06-07     4      4    1    4   0   0   1    5    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 1.750 2.750 KCR                                         
 Rich Rollins       1966-06-05  1966-07-02     4      3    2    3   0   0   2    8    0    0    0   0 1.000  .750 3.000 3.750 MIN                                         
 Smoky Burgess      1963-05-30  1963-06-09     4      4    1    3   0   0   0    4    0    0    0   0  .750  .750  .750 1.500 PIT                                         
 Sammy Taylor       1960-06-03  1960-06-15     4      4    2    4   1   0   1    5    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 2.000 3.000 CHC                                         
 Tito Francona      1959-04-24  1959-05-01     4      3    1    3   0   0   1    7    0    0    0   0 1.000  .750 2.000 2.750 CLE                                         
 Dave Philley       1958-09-09  1958-09-13     4      4    0    4   0   0   0    4    0    0    0   0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 PHI                                         

Now if we expand the search to allow for guys who first came in as a PH but may have gotten further PAs in some of the games, there are 5 guys who had RBIs in 5 straight such games:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Nelson Liriano     1996-09-10  1996-09-19     5      3    1    2   0   0   0    5    0    1    0   0  .667  .600  .667 1.267 PIT                                         
 Harold Baines      1990-09-14  1991-04-16     5      4    1    4   1   0   0    7    0    0    0   0 1.000  .667 1.250 1.917 OAK                                         
 Steve Henderson    1978-04-09  1979-07-03     5      7    4    5   0   1   3   10    0    0    0   0  .714  .714 2.286 3.000 NYM                                         
 Gene Tenace        1972-07-22  1972-08-10     5      6    0    4   1   1   0    7    0    0    0   0  .667  .667 1.167 1.834 OAK                                         
 Gene Woodling      1959-04-16  1959-05-17     5      5    5    4   1   0   0    5    0    2    0   0  .800  .750 1.000 1.750 BAL                                         

Check out this very surprising result. Here are the longest streaks where a guy appeared in a game as a PH, had at least one PA, and didn't get on base:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Mickey Mantle      1964-06-01  1966-07-06    28     28    0    0   0   0   0    1   13    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 NYY

 Steve Lyons        1990-07-18  1991-08-25    26     26    0    0   0   0   0    0    8    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CHW-BOS
 Dave Campbell      1971-08-05  1974-09-24    26     24    0    0   0   0   0    1    9    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 SDP-STL-HOU

 Luis Lopez         2000-08-01  2001-07-08    24     19    1    0   0   0   0    2    5    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 MIL
 Frank Tepedino     1971-04-06  1971-09-10    24     24    1    0   0   0   0    0    6    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 NYY-MIL

 Hiram Bocachica    2001-04-11  2001-07-28    23     24    0    0   0   0   0    0    8    0    2   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 LAD
 Jamie Quirk        1983-06-26  1986-05-10    23     22    0    0   0   0   0    1    7    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 STL-CHW-KCR
 Jay Johnstone      1982-09-25  1983-07-14    23     24    0    0   0   0   0    1    6    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CHC
 Ted Uhlaender      1972-04-18  1972-07-07    23     22    0    0   0   0   0    0    2    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CIN
 Paul Popovich      1970-09-04  1971-06-23    23     21    0    0   0   0   0    2    5    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CHC

 Juan Castro        1996-05-05  2001-05-02    22     20    0    0   0   0   0    1    7    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 LAD-CIN
 Tyler Houston      1999-06-12  2000-07-22    22     26    0    0   0   0   0    0   11    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CHC-CLE-MIL
 Richie Hebner      1985-08-15  1985-10-02    22     22    0    0   0   0   0    0    5    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CHC
 Tom Hutton         1979-08-22  1980-05-16    22     21    0    0   0   0   0    1    5    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 MON

 Alan Zinter        2002-08-16  2004-09-02    21     22    0    0   0   0   0    0   10    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 HOU-ARI
 Curtis Goodwin     1997-07-23  1998-08-04    21     21    0    0   0   0   0    0   11    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CIN-COL
 Jim Tatum          1995-07-21  1998-04-21    21     21    1    0   0   0   0    0    8    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 COL-SDP-NYM
 Milt Thompson      1996-05-20  1996-07-24    21     22    0    0   0   0   0    0    6    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 LAD-COL
 Todd Benzinger     1990-08-09  1991-05-31    21     20    0    0   0   0   0    2    2    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CIN
 Phil Linz          1965-07-25  1967-05-04    21     22    0    0   0   0   0    0    6    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 NYY-PHI
 Ray Jablonski      1959-07-16  1959-09-09    21     21    0    0   0   0   0    1    6    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 STL-KCA

 Corey Patterson    2004-06-15  2008-04-21    20     22    0    0   0   0   0    0   10    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CHC-BAL-CIN
 Gary Bennett       2003-04-07  2007-04-03    20     23    0    0   0   0   0    0    2    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 SDP-WSN-STL
 Bruce Aven         2000-04-22  2000-06-14    20     20    1    0   0   0   0    1    7    0    0   1  .000  .000  .000  .000 PIT
 Ted Simmons        1987-07-07  1988-05-05    20     19    0    0   0   0   0    1    3    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 ATL
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Ivan Murrell       1973-04-13  1973-07-15    20     19    2    0   0   0   0    0    6    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 SDP
 Bob Johnson        1965-05-11  1966-05-15    20     18    0    0   0   0   0    2    1    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 BAL
 Cap Peterson       1965-07-22  1966-04-29    20     20    1    0   0   0   0    0    5    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 SFG
 Bob Hale           1956-07-27  1957-04-26    20     16    0    0   0   0   0    5    2    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 BAL            

How many guesses do you think you would have needed to come up with Mickey Mantle as first? Mind you, Mantle appeared in lots of other games in the interim and got on base plenty. This search considers only those games in which he appeared as a PH.

As a further complication, this list also includes games where the player may have stayed in the game and played another position when getting a 2nd (or more) plate appearance.

If we restrict the search to games appearing as a PH only, here's what we get:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Ivan Murrell       1973-04-13  1974-05-29    36     35    2    0   0   0   0    0   12    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 SDP-ATL                                     

 Paul Popovich      1970-06-06  1971-06-23    33     31    0    0   0   0   0    2    6    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CHC                                         

 Ted Uhlaender      1971-04-15  1972-07-07    30     29    0    0   0   0   0    0    5    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 CLE-CIN                                     

 Dale Sveum         1986-08-31  1996-09-25    28     28    0    0   0   0   0    0   16    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 MIL-PHI-CHW-OAK-SEA-PIT                     

 Quilvio Veras      1996-04-07  1999-09-29    27     26    0    0   0   0   0    1   11    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 FLA-SDP                                     
 Mickey Mantle      1964-06-01  1966-07-06    27     26    0    0   0   0   0    1   13    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 NYY                                         

 John Rabb          1984-04-29  1988-07-31    25     25    0    0   0   0   0    0   16    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 SFG-ATL-SEA                                 
 Choo Choo Coleman  1961-05-04  1963-05-04    25     24    1    0   0   0   0    1    7    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 PHI-NYM                                     

Ahh, Dale Sveum. Rhymes with shame. Or blame. Or lame.

After yesterday's look at longest hitting streaks in 2008, here are the longest non-hitting streaks. Here are the most consecutive games without a hit (but with at least 1 plate appearance.)

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Jay Bergmann       2008-04-03  2008-09-26    20     40    0    0   0   0   0    0   20    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 WSN                                         

 Mark Sweeney       2008-06-08  2008-07-27    18     19    0    0   0   0   0    0   10    1    0   0  .000  .050  .000  .050 LAD                                         

 Robert Andino      2008-04-12  2008-06-25    17     18    1    0   0   0   0    0   13    4    0   0  .000  .182  .000  .182 FLA                                         
 Mark Sweeney       2008-04-02  2008-04-27    17     15    0    0   0   0   0    0    4    2    0   0  .000  .118  .000  .118 LAD                                         
 Marlon Anderson    2008-04-01  2008-04-23    17     15    0    0   0   0   0    0    6    1    1   0  .000  .063  .000  .063 NYM                                         

Wow, Mark Sweeney makes the list twice. That's pretty impressive given that he had only 92 AB all year. Of course, hitting .130 will do that for you.

Just at home:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Brian Moehler      2008-04-18  2008-09-26    15     26    0    0   0   0   0    0   13    1    0   0  .000  .037  .000  .037 HOU                                         
 Mark Sweeney       2008-08-01  2008-09-25    15     12    0    0   0   0   0    0    3    3    0   0  .000  .200  .000  .200 LAD                                         

 Seth Smith         2008-08-14  2008-09-20    14     12    0    0   0   0   0    0    2    4    0   0  .000  .250  .000  .250 COL                                         
 Braden Looper      2008-06-18  2008-09-11    14     16    0    0   0   0   0    0    9    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 STL                                         
 Kyle Lohse         2008-04-27  2008-09-09    14     26    0    0   0   0   0    0    7    0    0   1  .000  .000  .000  .000 STL                                         
 Johnny Cueto       2008-04-03  2008-09-06    14     21    2    0   0   0   0    0    8    1    0   0  .000  .045  .000  .045 CIN                                         

There's Sweeney again, and now we get some pitchers mixed in too, which makes sense.

And just road games:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Mark Sweeney       2008-05-13  2008-08-08    20     25    0    0   0   0   0    0    8    3    0   0  .000  .107  .000  .107 LAD                                         

 Ubaldo Jimenez     2008-04-03  2008-09-28    17     33    0    0   0   0   0    0   14    2    0   0  .000  .057  .000  .057 COL                                         

 John Lannan        2008-04-06  2008-09-27    15     28    0    0   0   0   0    0   16    0    0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 WSN                                         

Poor Sweeney.