MILWAUKEE — In single seasons over the last 125 years for which we have the data, only 10 pitchers have strung together at least five consecutive scoreless starts of at least five innings. Bob Gibson is one of them. So is Don Drysdale, Orel Hershiser and Zack Greinke. D-backs ace Zac Gallen was the last to do it, in 2022.
Just a few days after he was named the National League’s Pitcher of the Month for August, Peralta stretched his streak of stingy outings into September by dealing five more scoreless innings in the Brewers’ 2-0 loss to the Phillies on Thursday at American Family Field.
Philadelphia took the series between the NL’s top two teams, two games to one, but you can’t exactly blame Peralta, whose scoreless streak stands at 29 innings and counting, the longest in the Majors this season, according to Elias.
Peralta struck out eight and dodged around three walks and two hits in a game that remained scoreless until the seventh, when Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm tripled past a diving Brewers right fielder Isaac Collins and scored when Trea Turner went down to get a two-out, 0-2 splitter from Tobias Myers and lined it over the shortstop for a single.
Brewers hitters threatened often, putting runners in scoring position against Phillies starter Ranger Suárez in the second, third, fourth and sixth innings and in the eighth against lefty reliever Matt Strahm, but stranding them there each time – including at third base three times. That spoiled another gem from Peralta, who has not surrendered a run since his next-to-last inning of an Aug. 5 start against the Braves in Atlanta.
In the five starts since then, Peralta has allowed no runs on nine hits with 35 strikeouts in 28 innings. He’s the first true starting pitcher in Brewers history to author five consecutive scoreless starts, and that includes streaks spanning seasons. (“True” starter, because Jared Koenig made six straight scoreless starts as an opener last season.)
Peralta is also the first starter this season to post five consecutive scoreless starts. The Rays’ Drew Rasmussen, Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, Cubs’ Cade Horton and Athletics’ Jacob Lopez each had four in a row.
According to Elias, the last pitcher with more than 29 straight scoreless innings in a single season was, coincidentally, Suárez, who had a run of 32 last year for the Phillies.
