Most consecutive baseball games won by a Major League Baseball starting pitcher

The most consecutive baseball games won by a MLB pitcher is 20, achieved by Roger Clemens (USA), pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees from 3 June 1998 to 1 June 1999.

Despite Clemens racking up 15 consecutive wins starting with his sides win over the Detroit Tigers on 3 June 1998, the Blue Jays did not make the post season at the end of the 1998 season. He pitched the next year for the New York Yankees and kept the streak going for a further five wins, pitching his last win of the streak against the Cleveland Indians on 1 June 1999. The winning streak was snapped on 6 June 1999 in a 7-2 loss to the Yankees cross city rivals, the New York Mets.

This record is inclusive of post season matches and crosses over from one season to the next. The record only counts the number of games won during the period and can only be snapped by a loss. No decisions or ties between wins do not end the streak but do not add to it either.

New York Giants starter Rube Marquard (USA) also had a streak of 20 consecutive wins over two MLB seasons, winning his final start of the 1911 season and the first 19 starts of the 1912 season. However, as he lost Game Two of the 1911 World Series, he is not eligible for this record. Those 19 wins in 1912 do mean he holds the record for ‘Most consecutive baseball games won by a starting pitcher in one MLB regular season’ jointly with Tim Keefe (USA).

The overall record is held by Masahiro Tanaka (Japan), who won 30 consecutive games whilst pitching for Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles from 26 August 2012 to 27 October 2013. The record for a relief pitcher is held by Roy Face (USA), who won 22 consecutive games whilst relieving for the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1958-9.