St. Louis Cardinals right-handed starting pitcher Chris Carpenter has yet to allow a run this season and is so consistently dominating that it was not all that surprising when he carried a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.
After it was broken up by a lead-off single from Craig Counsell, Carp went on to complete his eighth shutout inning, during which time he struck out ten and did not walk a batter. Unfortunately, he took a no-decision in the Cardinals’ ten-inning 1-0 loss to the Brewers.
Over the last five seasons, only one other major league pitcher failed to earn a win despite throwing at least eight scoreless innings, recording ten-or-more strikeouts and not issuing a walk. That was the Giants’ Tim Lincecum, last month against Arizona. Prior to Carpenter, the last Cardinals pitcher who did not win a game under those conditions was Lee Meadows in 1917, according to Elias and Cardinals Media Relations.
Perhaps even more notable was that it was Carpenter’s fourth consecutive start without allowing an earned run, one short of the club record over at least the last 55 years. On Saturday night against San Francisco, Carp can tie the mark of five set by Bob Gibson during his signature 1968 season, known as the “Year of the Pitcher” across MLB.
Following are all 13 of the three-or-more Cardinals shutout start streaks in the last 55 years. Of course, all starts are not equal.
Among the oddities:
- John Tudor’s three shutout starts were interrupted by two seasons with the Dodgers.
- Jose DeLeon obviously pitched well, but had four no-decisions to show for it as he was injured twice.
- Ray Washburn‘s only relief appearance of the season occurred in the middle of his three starts without an earned run.
- Bob Forsch was spiked and left the game in the second of his four.
As one might suspect, Gibson’s run of five require no asterisks of any kind as they were all complete-game shutout wins earned during June of 1968. That has to be the one of the most dominant single months put together by any pitcher in the history of the game. Simply amazing.
Cardinals streaks of three or more consecutive shutout starts by a single pitcher (1954-2009)
| Bob Gibson | 1968 | |||||||||||||
| Start # | Car | TmG | Date | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
| 12 | 292 | 52 | Jun 6 | @ | HOU | W,4-0 | SHO | W(5-5) | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 13 | 293 | 58 | Jun 11 | @ | ATL | W,6-0 | SHO | W(6-5) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 14 | 294 | 62 | Jun 15 | CIN | W,2-0 | SHO | W(7-5) | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| 15 | 295 | 66 | Jun 20 | CHC | W,1-0 | SHO | W(8-5) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 16 | 296 | 72 | Jun 26(1) | PIT | W,3-0 | SHO | W(9-5) | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Chris Carpenter | 2009 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 251 | 4 | Apr 9 | PIT | W,2-1 | GS-7 | W(1-0) | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 2 | 252 | 9 | Apr 14 | @ | ARI | L,6-7 | GS-3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | 253 | 40 | May 20 | CHC | W,2-1 | GS-5 | W(2-0) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 4 | 254 | 45 | May 25 | @ | MIL | L,0-1 | GS-8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Jose DeLeon | 1991 | |||||||||||||
| 25 | 258 | 120 | Aug 23 | LAD | W,2-1 | GS-6 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 26 | 259 | 125 | Aug 28 | SDP | L,1-2 | GS-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 27 | 260 | 151 | Sep 23(2) | MON | L,1-5 | GS-5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 28 | 261 | 157 | Sep 30 | MON | W,11-1 | GS-1 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
(First game left with stiffness in right shoulder; fourth game hit on the wrist with a line drive and taken out.)
| Bob Forsch | 1980 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | 192 | 15 | Apr 27 | @ | PHI | W,10-1 | CG | W(1-1) | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | 193 | 19 | May 2 | HOU | W,9-1 | GS-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 194 | 24 | May 7 | SFG | W,12-2 | GS-7 | W(2-1) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 7 | 195 | 27 | May 11 | LAD | L,2-4 | GS-7 | L(2-2) | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
(Was removed from second game after being spiked by Jose Cruz on a play at first base.)
| Woody Williams | 2003 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 274 | 2 | Apr 2 | MIL | W,7-0 | GS-7 | W(1-0) | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2 | 275 | 10 | Apr 12 | @ | HOU | W,3-0 | GS-6 | W(2-0) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 276 | 15 | Apr 18 | ARI | W,6-3 | GS-7 | W(3-0) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| John Tudor | 1988 | |||||||||||||
| 21 | 241 | 113 | Aug 10 | @ | PHI | W,1-0 | GS-8 | W(6-5) | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1990 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 257 | 4 | Apr 13 | @ | PHI | W,11-0 | GS-6 | W(1-0) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 258 | 9 | Apr 18 | @ | PIT | W,3-0 | GS-7 | W(2-0) | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
(Traded to Dodgers on 8/16/1988 for Pedro Guerrero; signed by Cardinals as a free agent in 1990 – two years between Cardinal starts.)
| John Tudor | 1985 | |||||||||||||
| 29 | 167 | 127 | Sep 1 | HOU | W,5-0 | SHO | W(16-8) | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 30 | 168 | 132 | Sep 6 | ATL | W,8-0 | SHO | W(17-8) | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 31 | 169 | 137 | Sep 11 | @ | NYM | W,1-0 | SHO | W(18-8) | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Joaquin Andujar | 1982 | |||||||||||||
| 33 | 223 | 136 | Sep 6 | MON | W,1-0 | SHO | W(11-10) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 34 | 224 | 140 | Sep 11 | NYM | W,6-3 | GS-5 | W(12-10) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 35 | 225 | 144 | Sep 15 | @ | PHI | W,8-0 | SHO | W(13-10) | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| John Fulgham | 1980 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | 25 | 32 | May 17 | @ | SFG | L,2-4 | GS-4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6 | 26 | 37 | May 23 | SDP | L,0-2 | GS-8 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 7 | 27 | 42 | May 28 | NYM | L,5-6 | GS-7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
(First game coming back from a shoulder injury was limited to four innings.)
| Sonny Siebert | 1974 | |||||||||||||
| 8 | 356 | 40 | May 24 | @ | CHC | W,1-0 | SHO | W(4-3) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | 357 | 46 | May 31 | SDP | W,5-0 | SHO | W(5-3) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 10 | 358 | 50 | Jun 5 | @ | SFG | W,4-1 | GS-9 | W(6-3) | 8.2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Ray Washburn | 1966 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | 98 | 41 | May 31 | HOU | W,3-0 | GS-6 | W(2-3) | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 8 | 99 | 46 | Jun 4(2) | @ | ATL | L,1-4 | 7-GF(8) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | 100 | 55 | Jun 13(2) | @ | NYM | W,4-1 | GS-7 | W(3-3) | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| 10 | 101 | 61 | Jun 19(1) | PHI | W,1-0 | SHO | W(4-3) | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
(Pitched in his only game of the year in relief in between the three starts – 26 starts on the year.)
| Curt Simmons | 1963 | |||||||||||||
| 28 | 437 | 140 | Sep 5 | NYM | W,9-0 | SHO | W(13-7) | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 29 | 438 | 145 | Sep 9 | CHC | W,6-0 | SHO | W(14-7) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 30 | 439 | 149 | Sep 13 | MLN | W,7-0 | SHO | W(15-7) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| Harvey Haddix | 1954 | |||||||||||||
| 14 | 57 | 51 | Jun 9 | BRO | W,3-0 | SHO | W(9-3) | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| 15 | 58 | 55 | Jun 13(1) | PIT | W,5-0 | SHO | W(10-3) | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 16 | 59 | 59 | Jun 18 | @ | NYG | W,5-0 | SHO | W(11-3) | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
As always, a tip of the cap to Tom Orf, who pulled the data shown above.
Another interesting fact about John Fulgham that has been discussed before, I think – all ten of his major-league wins were complete games.
Fulgham nearly led the NL in ERA in 1979; he finished with a 2.53 ERA and was second to Craig Swan, I think it was. He got hurt the following year and was never the same – that seemed to happen a lot during Herzog’s tenure (think Silvio Martinez, Mark Littell, Andy Rincon, Jeff Lahti, Todd Worrell, Ken Dayley, and Danny Cox).
Well, we had another Bad Duncan, Good Duncan performance Saturday night. Both Giants runs scored right after Duncan outfield misadventures but he also knocked in the GWRBI and give Carp back his win. Shutout inning and game streak over.
Sports medicine has improved a lot since Herzog’s era, when many pitchers for many teams were knocked out of the game too quickly. Chris Carpenter has endured a number of injuries, yet thanks to operations is blessed to still be able to perform at a high level.
Until he started hitting, I kept expecting Duncan to get slapped in the back of the head by Carpenter whenever the camera panned to show one walking by the other.
That dive would have been hilarious if he was playing for another team. On a perfectly playable ball, Duncan chose to kind of belly flop down in front of it instead of, I dunno, scoop the ball up with his glove.
He’d be a much better defender if he could realize that he is, in fact, a big galumphy guy and not Jim Edmonds. Just stay on your feet, man!
Glad Carp won the game, although it figures the no-earned-runs streak (we really can’t call it a scoreless streak since he gave up that unearned run in Arizona) would end after we’re all talking about it.
Speaking of Gibson, that scoreless streak is kind of what the loss in Game 7 so brutal – I had just moved to St. Louis that year (in August; my dad had just gotten back from Vietnam and he was stationed at the dental clinic in the old Mart building for a second tour (the first was 1958-60 – my sister was born in St. Louis in 1959; I was born in Texas in 1957 about 3 months before we moved to St. Louis) and I (and many others) simply regarded Bob Gibson as unbeatable.
When Flood misjudged that fly ball, it was like the world had ended. We simply couldn’t believe it.
At least Gibby had Flood. Carpenter is not quite so well served with Kid Duncan.
It was hard to accept that Flood could misjudge one, but it illustrated how hard it is to judge line drives at you.
I was surprised too when Gibson had his leg broken by a line drive. It was a lesson he was merely mortal.
Should you add Caprenter´s last outing of 2008 in which he was also unscored on? (though only 2 innings I believe.)
CC, no. Carp’s last outing of 2008 was not a start. It was one scoreless inning of relief on September 2, though it would be relevant if the subject was consecutive IP instead of starts.