Unbeatable.The biggest challenges we'll face in our coverage of Zack Greinke this season are twofold. First, we'll have to dig deep for colorful metaphors to describe his excellence. And, two, it will be tough to pick from the multitude of statistical nuggets Zack is leaving in his golden wake. After his second straight complete game last night, Greinke has entered rarified air. Indeed, we in Kansas City are witnessing one of the greatest pitching streaks in modern baseball history.
When you think of epic pitching streaks, what to you think of? If you have a keen sense of baseball history, there are probably two names that leap to mind: Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser. Drydale set the big-league record by throwing 58 consecutive scoreless innings. Hershiser broke that mark 20 years later by compiling 59 spotless frames. Keep those names in mind.
Game scores
Last time out, I had a passage about Greinke and Game Scores. His shutout in Texas last weekend was the fourth-best in baseball this season, better than any Royals starter last season and was the second-best in Greinke's career. His Game Score at Texas was 83. Last night against the Tigers, Greinke posted an 88. That's the second-best of any pitcher this season, ties Greinke's career high and is the best any Royals starter has posted in almost five years.
The feat of posting back-to-back Game Scores over 80 is also remarkable. It's only happened nine times in Royals history. Only once has a pitcher gone over 80 in three straight games: David Cone did it in 1994. I wouldn't bet against Greinke matching that feat next time out.
Scoreless innings
Greinke did allow an unearned run last night, which clipped his scoreless innings streak. However, his ERA remains perfect. Further, if you go back to last season, Greinke finished off the campaign with a pair of seven-shutout-inning outings. So Greinke has now not allowed an earned run in six consecutive starts.
How many other times has that happened in Royals history? Zero. In fact, no other Royals pitcher has ever had a streak of more than three consecutive starts without giving up an earned run.
How does the streak look when compared to all the other teams in baseball? Well, baseball-reference.com's Play Index allows us to search pitching streaks back to 1954. In doing so, I uncovered three streaks in which a starting pitcher has had six straight outings without allowing an earned run. They are:
1. Don Drysdale, 1968
2. Orel Hershiser, 1988
3. Zack Greinke, 2008-09
Just letting you guys know, for some reason your entries aren't publishing out on the main sports page.
Keep up the great work!