In baseball, a scoreless innings streak is the number of consecutive official innings in which a pitcher appears and allows no runs. Such a streak will end when the pitcher allows a run, earned or unearned. Since 1998, the Official 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.
Orel Hershiser holds the Major League Baseball record of 59 consecutive scoreless innings which began on August 20, 1988 and ended on September 28, 1988, breaking Don Drysdale's record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings in 1968, the "Year of the Pitcher." Drysdale, Hershiser, and Cristopher Sánchez are the only pitchers to record a 50-inning streak in the live ball era; Walter Johnson and Jack 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. Additionally, Sánchez holds the record for longest streak by a left-hander, breaking Carl Hubbell's 93-year-old record in June 2026.
Mariano Rivera holds the postseason record for consecutive scoreless innings, with . The second-longest postseason streak was pitched by Whitey Ford, whose 33 consecutive scoreless innings is a World Series record; Ford broke Babe Ruth's 43-year-old record of 29 scoreless innings. Christy Mathewson holds the National League record with 28 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason.
Major League Baseball Regular season 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.
#PlayerTeam Starting dateEnding date1Los Angeles Dodgers592Los Angeles Dodgers583Washington Senators4Philadelphia Athletics535Philadelphia Phillies 6St. Louis Cardinals477Los Angeles Dodgers8New York Giants9Boston Americans45Chicago White SoxNew York Giants12Arizona Diamondbacks13Chicago Cubs4414Philadelphia Athletics15Boston Red Sox42Arizona Diamondbacks17Pittsburgh Pirates41Philadelphia PhilliesBoston BravesChicago White SoxCleveland IndiansLos Angeles Dodgers23Washington Senators40San Francisco GiantsBoston Red Sox
Postseason The following is a list of pitchers with at least 20 consecutive postseason scoreless innings. Mariano Rivera holds the postseason record, and Whitey Ford holds the World Series record.
#PlayerTeam(s) Year(s)Starting dateEnding date1New York Yankees1998–20002New York Yankees331960–19623Boston Red Sox291916, 19184New York Giants281905, 19115Boston Red Sox262005, 2007–096San Francisco Giants242014, 20167San Francisco Giants2010, 2012, 2014Baltimore OriolesNew York YankeesCleveland Indians2014–20169Los Angeles Dodgers221965–196610St. Louis Cardinals1985, 1987St. Louis Cardinals2012–2013
See also Hitting streak List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
References