Zach Britton lapped the field, historically, but his scoreless streak is over now
For the first time since April 30, Britton allowed an earned run
By
Matt Snyder
•
1 min read
The Orioles' lead heading into the ninth was 10-3 on Wednesday night. Surely All-World closer Zach Britton wouldn't be needed and his historic streak would remain intact, right? But you can't predict this, our baseball. Daniel Murphy would club a grand slam, making it 10-7 Orioles with one out, so O's manager Buck Showalter went to his man.
And Britton ended up getting into trouble, needing a double play with the tying run on base to survive. The Orioles won 10-8, but Britton lost his record streak in a non-save situation.
Bryce Harper had singled before Anthony Rendon doubled him home (MLB.com video). That's an earned run. It was the first one Britton surrendered since April 30.
Take a minute to drink that one up. Britton wasn't hurt. He was used regularly as the closer for a good team and went through the entire months of May, June and July -- and most of August! -- without allowing a single earned run. The streak spanned 41 1/3 innings in 43 appearances. He struck out 48 while allowing only 33 baserunners. Opposing hitters managed a .135/.213/.170 line against him.
That's ridiculous. Most impressive is how much Britton was able to distance himself from the field, historically.
Here's the leaderboard for the longest streaks of appearances without allowing an earned run in MLB history:
- Britton, 43 games, 2016
- Brett Cecil , 2015-16 Toronto Blue Jays: 38 games
- Craig Kimbrel , 2011 Atlanta Braves: 38 games
- Mike Myers, 1999-2000 Milwaukee Brewers & Colorado Rockies: 37 games
- Fernando Rodney , 2015-16 Chicago Cubs & San Diego Padres: 36 games
- J.P. Howell , 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers: 36 games
It'll be interesting to see how Britton bounces back from the relatively bad outing. It should be reiterated that he surely wasn't prepared to pitch on Wednesday but had to be thrown into the fire. He wouldn't use it as an excuse, but it wasn't a normal outing.
As far as a possible Cy Young case, Britton has a chance, but he probably can't allow many more runs. In 2012, Fernando Rodney (with the Rays) was 48 of 50 in save chances with a 0.60 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 76 strikeouts and only 14 unintentional walks in 74 2/3 innings. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting.
Britton this season is 38 for 38 in save chances with a 0.69 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 61 strikeouts and 13 unintentional walks in 52 innings.
