Zack Greinke’s remarkable scoreless streak ends at 45 2/3 innings
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke was closing in on history entering Sunday’s start against the New York Mets.
Dating back to June 13, Greinke had gone 43 2/3 innings without allowing a run, a span that covers six full starts. With another 16 scoreless frames, Greinke would have surpassed former Dodgers legend Orel Hershiser’s major-league record streak of 59 consecutive scoreless innings set in 1988.
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Greinke did manage to inch closer on Sunday, extending his streak to 45 2/3 innings with two perfect innings out of the chute. That firmly established his streak among the top six in baseball history.
But it wasn’t meant to carry on beyond Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.
In the third inning, Greinke found himself in immediate trouble after hitting Kirk Nieuwenhuis with a pitch. The following batter, Kevin Plawecki, singled to right-center to set up the golden scoring opportunity. Not helping matters was the fact center fielder Joc Pederson overran the ball, allowing Nieuwenhuis to advance to third base.
Those 90 feet proved critical with Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom due up next. With first and second, he may have been strictly called upon to bunt, even with two strikes. As it was, deGrom hit a two-strike grounder to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez that allowed Nieuwenhuis home, barely beating Gonzalez’s throw and the tag from catcher Yasmani Grandal.
So yes, Greinke’s streak was technically ended up by the opposing pitcher, but there were obviously more factors involved than that. Greinke, of course, bounced right back from the setback retiring Curtis Granderson and Ruben Tejada. Tejada’s pop up was turned into a double play.
Greinke would allow one more in the sixth inning, but ended taking a no-decision when the Dodgers rallied for two runs in the ninth. The Mets would go to win 3-2 in 10 inning on former Dodger Juan Uribe’s walk-off single.
Another interesting twist here is that Greinke was originally scheduled to make this start on Friday night, but he ended up flying home for the birth of his son. Bode Nicholas Greinke was born on Friday afternoon, which allowed Greinke to travel back for the series finale in New York.
That in and of itself is pretty cool. This is pretty cool too.
Greinke and Hershiser already had quite a bit in common, but their baseball greatness pales in comparison to the joys of fatherhood. With that in mind, this isn’t a day to mourn the end of Greinke’s streak, but rather a day to congratulate him on the future that lies ahead.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
