On Friday the 14th (of April, 2023), the Toronto Blue Jays topped the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4, stopping the Rays’ season-opening winning steak at 13 games (leaving the Rays tied with the 1987 Brewers and 1982 Braves for the longest season-opening winning streak since 1900). Who led the charge the put an end to the streak? Blue Jays’ starting (and winning) pitcher Jose Berrios, who came into the game with an 0-2 record and a 11.17 ERA over his first two starts, played a major role. Berrios went five innings (four hits, one run, zero walks, six whiffs). Also contributing were: Jays’ RF and leadoff hitter George Springer, who opened the bottom of the first with a home run; and SS Bo Bichette, who went five-for-five with a pair of doubles.
A lot has been written about the Rays’ streak. In this post, Baseball Roundtable would like to add a few thoughts about all three of MLB’s post-1900, 13-game, season-opening wining streaks – comparing how they were built, some challenging moments along the way and some unexpected performances .
2023 Rays
Randy Arozarena Photo: All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Rays’ streak included ten home wins and three on the road, with just one one-run win and six by five or more tallies. It was easily the most dominant showing by any of the three teams with 13 season-opening wins.
During their streak, the Rays:
- Outscored their opponents 101-30;
- Outhit them .287 to .189;
- Out-homered them 32-6;
- Put up a 2.23 earned run average to the opponents’ 8.24;
- Walked 31 batters to the opponents’ 46;
- Fanned 122 hitters to the opponents’ 94.
Challenging Moment: The closest the Rays came to being stropped mid-streak came on April 10 – Game 10 of the streak – when the they were tied 0-0 with the Red Sox after seven innings and won the game 1-0 on a Brandon Lowe home run in the eighth.
Key contributors to the Rays’ streak (and their stats over the length of the streak);
- 2B Brandon Lowe – .333-5-12;
- LF Randy Arozarena – .314-3-16;
- SS Wander Franco – .333-4-12;
- SP Shane McClanahan – 3-0, 1.59 in three starts;
- SP Jeffrey Springs – 2-0, 0.56 in three starts;
- SP Drew Rasmussen – 2-0, 0.00 in three starts.
Unexpected Hero: SS Isaac Paredes. The 24-year-old, opened the 2023 season with a .209 career batting average (168 games over three season), although he had shown some power (.205-20-45 in 111 games in 2022). Paredes played in 12 games during the streak and went .308-3-10.
1987 Brewers
The 1987 Brewers – who finished third in AL East at 91-72 – built their 13-game, season-opening winning streak on power – outscoring their opponents 91-53, while out-homering them 22 to 12. They picked up seven road wins and six home victories and faced more challenges than the Rays. The Brewers’ streak included three one-run victories. .Here’s the tale of the tape.
During their streak, the Brewers:
- Outscored their opponents 91-53;
- Outhit them .302 to .246;
- Out-homered them 22-12;
- Put up a 3.64 earned run average to the opponents’ 6.82;
- Walked 36 and fanned 78, to the opponents’ issuing of 52 walks, while fanning 89.
Plenty of contributors on offense:
- LF Rob Deer – .391-7-17;
- CF Robin Yount – .321-2-11;
- 3B Paul Molitor – .370-2-9, with 15 runs scored and six steals.;
- 1B Greg Brock – .349-4-13;
- SS Dale Sveum – .383-2-13.
Om the mound, closer Dan Plesac appeared in seven games, picked up five saves and put up a 2.32 ERA; Teddy Higuera started three games and won all three (23 inning pitched, 2.74 ERA) ; Juan Nieves went 2-0, 4.26 in three stats, but one was an April 15, complete-game no-hitter versus the Orioles.
Challenging Moment: On April 12 – Game Six of the streak – the Brewers needed 12 innings to top the Rangers (in Texas) in a contest in which they trailed 2-1 after seven innings. It looked like the Brewers had the game won when the plated three runs in the top of the 11th, but the Rangers scored three in the bottom of the inning (two with two out) to retie the game. A two-run, 12th-inning single by Brewers’ C B.J. Surhoff provided the winning margin.
Unexpected Hero: LF Rob Deer gets the nod here – for his sustained performance during the streak. Deer, a power hitter who came intro the season with a career .227 average, hit .391, with seven home runs, 17 RBI and 13 runs scored during the streak (he played in 12 of the 13 games). Deer collected multiple hits in seven of his 12 games. Deer ended the season with a .238-28-80 line in 134 games. Those 12 games within the streak represented 9 percent of Deer’s season total, but during the streak he accumulated 25 percent of his season home run total, 21 percent of his RBI total, 18 percent of his runs scored and 16 percent of his base hits. (For those who like to know such things, Deer was a career .220 hitter -11 seasons – with 230 home runs and 600 RBI).
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The all-time MLB record of 20 wins to start a season belongs to the 1884 Union Association St. Louis Maroons. The Union Association did not have a lot of balance in 1884. The Maroons finished 94-19-1 … a full 21 games ahead of their nearest competitor. During their opening 20-game win streak, they recorded 16 home wins and just four on the road – and outscored their opponents 234-67. On the season, they outscored their opponents 887 to 429.
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1982 Braves
The 1982 Braves started the season 13-0 and won the National League West title with an 89-73 record.
During the streak, the Braves:
- Outscored their opponents 66-34;
- Outhit them .272 to .232;
- Out-homered them ten to two.
- Put up a 1.83 earned run average to the opponents’ 4.67;
- Struck out 66 batters to the opponents’ 58;
- Gave up 50 walks to the opponents’ 66.
The Braves’ streak included eight road wins (five home wins); three one-run games; one extra-inning contest; and one walk-off.
Key players in the Braves 13-game streak were:
- SS Rafael Ramirez (.333-1-9);
- 1B Chris Chambliss (.356-3-5);
- CF Dale Murphy (.256-4-12, with ten runs scored and ten walks).
On the pitching staff, notable contributions were made by relievers Rick Camp (who appeared seven games and went 2-0, with three saves and a 1.74 ERA) and Gene Garber (who appeared in five games and went 1-0, with three saves an a 0.00 ERA in 11 1/3 innings). Bob Walk started three games (the Braves won all three) and went 2-0, 0.96.
Challenging Moment: The Braves’ streak might have been over before it started. On Opening Day (April 6), the Braves faced the Padres in San Diego – and came away with a 1-0 win. Brett Butler (who had walked) scored the only tally on a one-out double by 2B Glen Hubbard in the top of the fifth. Braves’ starter Rick Mahler, who would go 9-10, 4.21 on the season (and 96-111, 3.99 in 13 MLB seasons) pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout.
Unexpected Hero(s) : SS Rafael Ramirez, a .235 career hitter coming into the season (two seasons, 145 games), hit .333, with 16 hits, one home run, nine RBI and eight runs scored over the 13 games. He collected 11 hits over the first six games of the season. Ramirez finished the season at .278-10-52 and was .261-53-484 over a 13-season MLB career (1,539 games). More unusual than unexpected, Rick Camp, who would end up starting 21 games in 1982, opened the season in the bullpen and had two wins and three saves during the streak. He would pick up just two more saves that season, ending the year 11-13, 3.65 with 21 starts and 30 relief appearances, five saves and three complete games.
The Braves first loss came at home on April 22 – as the Reds topped them 2-1. In that one, Reds’ starting (and winning) pitcher Bruce Berenyi drove in what proved to be the winning run, with a fifth-inning , two-out single off Bob Walk.
Primary Resource: Baseball-Reference.com
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