Carpenter’s streaks end


When St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter was battered around by the visiting San Francisco Giants on Tuesday evening, allowing 11 hits and six runs in five innings, his ERA on the season jumped to 2.42.

In a remarkable past display of consistency, it also was the first time in the 2009 season -over his last 11 outings – that Carpenter allowed more than six hits and three runs.

His ten-game streak of allowing six or fewer hits was the longest amassed by any Cardinals pitcher since at least 1954. Only two others, Brooks Lawrence (1955) and Todd Stottlemyre (1998) ran nine such games together.

To underline how difficult the feat was, Hall of Famer Bob Gibson’s longest streak was just eight games. Interestingly, it was not in his dominating 1968 season, “The Year of the Pitcher”. Instead, it occurred in 1962.

Cardinals starting pitchers streak – allowing six hits or fewer (1954-2009)

StreakStart Streak End G W L GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Chris Carpenter 4/9/2009 6/25/2009 10 5 2 10 1 0 65.2 37 14 13 9 48 3 1.78
Todd Stottlemyre 3/31/1998 5/11/1998 9 4 3 9 0 0 62.2 42 23 21 19 58 5 3.02
Brooks Lawrence 4/12/1955 7/4/1955 9 2 4 9 2 1 35 35 24 23 24 19 5 5.91
Bob Gibson 4/16/1962 5/22/1962 8 5 2 8 5 2 58.1 34 20 20 16 52 5 3.09
Rick Ankiel 4/9/2000 5/13/2000 7 3 1 7 0 0 41 27 15 13 31 36 5 2.85
Jose DeLeon 4/6/1992 5/11/1992 7 2 2 7 0 0 41.2 31 17 16 17 26 2 3.46
Nelson Briles 4/11/1970 6/13/1970 7 1 1 7 0 0 19.1 29 21 21 10 12 2 9.78
Anthony Reyes 5/20/2006 7/8/2006 6 1 3 6 1 0 35 25 15 15 12 26 6 3.86
Rick Ankiel 4/8/2001 5/10/2001 6 1 2 6 0 0 24 25 21 19 25 27 7 7.13
Juan Acevedo 5/16/1999 6/12/1999 6 2 0 6 0 0 30 26 19 18 9 13 6 5.40
Andy Benes 4/28/1997 5/24/1997 6 3 2 6 0 0 40 32 13 13 14 35 2 2.93
Mike Morgan 5/18/1996 6/16/1996 6 1 1 6 0 0 35.2 28 16 16 18 14 7 4.04
Donovan Osborne 4/8/1993 5/5/1993 6 1 1 6 0 0 34 29 16 13 14 15 5 3.44
Jose DeLeon 4/5/1989 5/1/1989 6 5 1 6 3 2 50.1 26 10 9 12 38 5 1.61
Silvio Martinez 4/13/1980 5/24/1980 6 1 2 6 1 0 30 25 17 12 17 13 1 3.60

In terms of allowing three or fewer runs over those ten games, Carp fell short of the top mark by a Cardinals pitcher this decade. Woody Williams had a twelve-game streak to open the 2002 season.

Still, Carpenter’s feat is notable as it is tied for the 13th-longest anywhere in Major League Baseball this decade. The high-water mark of 15 consecutive games allowing three or fewer runs was set by the Reds’ Edinson Volquez this season.

MLB starting pitchers streak – allowing three runs or fewer (2000-2009)

Tm StreakStart Streak End G W L GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Edinson Volquez CIN 4/6/2008 6/20/2008 15 10 1 15 0 0 93.1 65 20 18 44 108 2 1.74
Brandon Webb ARI 4/27/2003 7/8/2003 13 6 2 13 1 1 90 69 23 22 23 72 6 2.20
Pedro Martinez BOS 4/4/2000 6/20/2000 13 9 3 13 3 2 99.1 56 14 13 19 130 6 1.18
Josh Johnson FLA 5/4/2006 7/8/2006 12 7 2 12 0 0 74 60 23 16 33 64 5 1.95
Woody Williams STL 4/5/2002 7/6/2002 12 6 3 12 1 0 76.2 58 21 20 20 59 9 2.35
Pedro Martinez BOS 4/2/2001 6/4/2001 12 7 1 12 1 0 87 59 17 16 19 131 3 1.66
Erik Bedard SEA 4/7/2009 6/7/2009 11 5 2 11 0 0 65.2 54 20 18 22 65 6 2.47
Joba Chamberlain NYY 6/3/2008 7/30/2008 11 3 1 11 0 0 60.2 52 18 15 23 69 2 2.23
Jeremy Guthrie BAL 4/24/2007 6/26/2007 11 3 1 11 0 0 77.2 51 18 15 11 53 5 1.74
Jorge Sosa ATL 6/14/2005 8/7/2005 11 5 1 11 0 0 60 53 15 15 26 45 6 2.25
Roger Clemens HOU 4/8/2005 5/30/2005 11 3 3 11 0 0 76 45 12 11 20 76 3 1.30
Tim Redding HOU 4/5/2003 5/29/2003 11 3 4 11 0 0 61.2 64 24 23 28 37 5 3.36
Chris Carpenter STL 4/9/2009 6/25/2009 10 5 2 10 1 0 65.2 37 14 13 9 48 3 1.78
Zack Greinke KCR 4/8/2009 5/26/2009 10 8 1 10 5 2 75 54 8 7 12 81 0 0.84
Francisco Liriano MIN 5/19/2006 7/8/2006 10 9 1 10 0 0 66 36 10 10 19 70 4 1.36
Brad Penny LAD 4/4/2006 5/23/2006 10 5 1 10 0 0 58.1 52 15 15 17 45 2 2.31
Jake Peavy SDP 4/6/2004 7/2/2004 10 5 2 10 0 0 59 57 13 13 20 59 3 1.98
Brad Penny FLA 4/7/2004 5/27/2004 10 6 2 10 0 0 68 51 16 16 18 57 7 2.12

Thanks to Tom Orf for the data pulls.