One of baseball’s great streaks ends in the rain

August 1, 2012 Bill Chuck Off The Bill Chuck Files,

Justin Verlander‘s streak of consecutive starts of at least 6 innings came to an end last night as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Tigers, 4-1, in a game halted by rain at Fenway. The Tigers had the bases loaded with two out in the top of the 6th when the rain halted play and Verlander’s streak . Verlander, who had gone at least six innings in his previous 63 starts, gave up two hits through three innings before struggling as the rain became heavier in the 4th.

“Kind of a weird way for (the streak) to come to an end,” he said. “I get a five-inning complete game but I don’t go six innings.”

In case you are curious…

On July 1, 1941, Joe DiMaggio, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Red Sox, went 1-for-3 to tie Wee Willie Keeler’s 43-year record of 44 games with a line drive single.

“Here again, I was lucky,” writes DiMaggio in his autobiography, “as it was not only the only hit I got in the game but the game was called at the end of five innings.”

Once again, here are the nine longest streaks by a pitcher of consecutive starts of 6+ innings.

Rk		Strk Start	End	Games	W	L	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Tm
1	Bob Gibson	1967-09-12	1970-05-02	78	46	24	58	17	687.2	503	154	132	176	606	1.73	STL

2	Steve Carlton	1979-09-13	1982-04-13	69	41	15	24	5	545.0	435	169	151	170	517	2.49	PHI

3	Justin Verlander	2010-08-22	2012-07-26	63	40	12	11	3	468.2	335	144	128	102	463	2.46	DET

4	Catfish Hunter	1975-04-23	1976-08-04	61	35	22	44	9	524.0	405	177	160	126	285	2.75	NYY

5	Walter Johnson	1918-04-15	1919-09-16	58	38	19	56	15	566.0	439	131	86	111	283	1.37	WSH

6	Bob Gibson	1965-04-17	1966-07-02	54	31	20	33	9	450.0	343	151	133	131	410	2.66	STL
7	Dazzy Vance	1926-08-26	1928-07-09	54	28	24	42	4	459.0	408	163	137	116	318	2.69	BRO

8	Bob Gibson	1972-05-05	1973-07-30	53	30	18	35	5	442.1	355	137	121	131	333	2.46	STL

9	Mark Buehrle	2004-05-11	2005-07-26	49	26	13	6	2	357.2	355	153	132	66	228	3.32	CHW

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/27/2012.

Here are the current active longest streaks of 6+ innings pitched by a starter

Rk		Strk Start	End ▾	Games	W	L	CG	IP	ERA
1	Kyle Lohse	2012-06-04	2012-07-31	11	6	1	0	75.1	2.51
2	Ryan Vogelsong	2011-09-26	2012-07-29	20	9	5	0	136.2	2.11
3	Jordan Zimmermann	2012-04-08	2012-07-28	21	8	6	0	134.1	2.28
4	Joe Blanton	2012-06-03	2012-07-28	10	4	4	1	71.0	4.18
5	Ben Sheets	2010-05-08	2012-07-27	17	6	6	0	107.0	3.11
6	Jonathon Niese	2012-06-03	2012-07-27	10	4	3	0	68.1	3.29