Zack Greinke finishes historic first half with 1.39 ERA, 35 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings

Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Remarkable.

Breathtaking.

With his eight shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, extending his scoreless inning streak to 35 2/3 innings, Zack Greinke has the lowest ERA at the All-Star Break by a pitcher with at least 100 innings since 1968.

In the past 47 years, Greinke’s 1.39 ERA at the end of the so-called first half is surpassed only by Bob Gibson (1.06), Luis Tiant (1.24) and Don Drysdale (1.37). Major League Baseball lowered the pitcher’s mound the following season.

Other than those three legends, you have to go back to World War II to find a hurler with a lower first-half ERA than Greinke’s: Red Munger’s 1.34 in 1944.

Greinke’s scoreless inning streak is now the fourth-longest in Los Angeles Dodger history, behind Orel Hershiser’s MLB-record 59, Drysdale’s 58 and Clayton Kershaw’s 41 last year.

It says something that not until the seventh paragraph am I mentioning that Greinke has retired 36 of the past 37 batters he has faced, starting with the final 12 New York Mets on Independence Day.

Tonight, Ryan Howard’s leadoff single in the second inning removed the drama of a no-hitter or perfect game, which would have been considerable considering Greinke shut down every other batter, throwing a svelte 94 pitches. Greinke has now seen 125 hitters during the streak, allowing 10 singles, three doubles and three walks while striking out 31.

Only two players during the streak have reached third base — none in the past 27 2/3 innings. Greinke has pitched 12 consecutive innings without allowing a runner into scoring position.