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Another week, another astonishing Craig Kimbrel Fact.
Yesterday, Craig Kimbrel gave up only the second earned run of his young career. (He gave up the other earned run on May 15th of last year.) Between the at-bats when those runs scored, Kimbrel faced 101 batters and struck out 48 of them. Those 48 strikeouts between earned runs are very nearly the all-time record.
Here is a list of the only 20 times that a pitcher has struck out 40 or more batters between earned runs (since 1919):
| Rk | Player | Streak Start | Streak End | SO | Tm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Greinke | 2008-09-13 | 2009-04-29 | 49 | KCR |
| 2 | Craig Kimbrel | 2010-05-15 | 2011-04-21 | 48 | ATL |
| 3 | Dwight Gooden | 1985-08-31 | 1985-10-02 | 47 | NYM |
| 4 | Don Drysdale | 1968-05-10 | 1968-06-08 | 46 | LAD |
| 5 | Johan Santana | 2004-08-28 | 2004-09-24 | 45 | MIN |
| Pedro Martinez | 2002-07-19 | 2002-08-16 | 45 | BOS | |
| Steve Carlton | 1972-07-19 | 1972-08-13 | 45 | PHI | |
| 8 | Ray Culp | 1968-09-07 | 1968-09-29 | 44 | BOS |
| Luis Tiant | 1968-04-20 | 1968-05-17 | 44 | CLE | |
| 10 | Francisco Rodriguez | 2006-06-26 | 2006-09-15 | 43 | LAA |
| Robb Nen | 2000-07-13 | 2000-09-21 | 43 | SFG | |
| Billy Wagner | 1999-08-11 | 2000-04-19 | 43 | HOU | |
| 13 | Nolan Ryan | 1984-05-06 | 1984-06-01 | 42 | HOU |
| 14 | Sammy Ellis | 1964-08-20 | 1965-04-13 | 41 | CIN |
| Chan Ho Park | 2000-09-14 | 2001-04-07 | 41 | LAD | |
| Jack Morris | 1986-07-04 | 1986-07-28 | 41 | DET | |
| 17 | Frank Francisco | 2008-08-18 | 2009-05-31 | 40 | TEX |
| Gaylord Perry | 1967-08-24 | 1967-09-14 | 40 | SFG | |
| J.R. Richard | 1979-08-18 | 1979-09-11 | 40 | HOU | |
| Orel Hershiser | 1988-08-30 | 1989-04-05 | 40 | LAD |
There are some fantastic pitchers on this list, obviously, but only Zack Greinke tops Kimbrel. Not even some of the most legendary streaks in baseball history, like Doc Gooden's in 1985, Pedro's in 2002, or Hershiser's in 1988 can match Kimbrel's. Kimbrel is also the only pitcher in the top 7 who has not won a Cy Young.
Obviously, pitching as a reliever is different from pitching as a starter, but no other reliever even comes close to Kimbrel's 48 Ks between ER. The next-best are Robb Nen, Francisco Rodriguez, and Billy Wagner at 43 each. (How great is it that Wagner keeps coming up on these Kimbrel lists?)
We obviously shouldn't expect Craig Kimbrel to strike out 48 more guys before he gives up his next earned run. This kind of streak doesn't mean anything when projecting future performance. It is still very impressive, however. Not many rookies can say that they've already done something that not even Nolan Ryan or Steve Carlton could do.