With their 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday becoming 21st straight, Cleveland Indians have set the American League record for the most consecutive wins with. The longest winning streak in AL was previously held by Oakland Athletics, which had 20 straight wins in 2002. The record was confirmed on the MLB’s official Twitter profile.
The #Windians won’t stop!
That’s TWENTY-ONE in a row for the @Indians – an AL record! pic.twitter.com/vq8pui7FtK
— MLB (@MLB) September 13, 2017
MLB Stat of the day revealed some impressive numbers Indians achieved during their 21 wins run. In 189 innings, Cleveland Indians have trailed in just 4. Team’s starting pitchers are 19-0 with 1.70 ERA. Indians have outscored opponents 139 to 35. Finally, Indians had 41 home runs while allowing only 35 runs.
With their 21 winning streak, Cleveland Indians are now tied with Chicago White Stockings from 1880 and Chicago Cubs from 1935 for the second most consecutive wins in MLB history. The 1916 New York Giants are currently credited with the MLB’s longest winning streak, having won 26 consecutive games. Bleacher Report notes that 13th game of Giants’ 26 games winning streak was ruled as a tie because of darkness. Giants played against Pittsburgh Pirates, and the game was never finished.
Now, if Giants had 12 straight wins, 1 tie, and then had 14 more wins, why are they still credited with the streak? Well, there is an explanation provided by Steve Hirdt, executive vice president at the Elias Sports Bureau, Major League Baseball’s official record keeper.
”A tie was never an acceptable result of a baseball game. The Giants’ 26-game winning streak has existed since the beginning of time. It’s the longest winning streak, it’s the record for most consecutive wins, etc., because a tie game breaks neither a winning streak or losing streak for a team because it always gets replayed unless the season ends first.“
The last time when Indians lost was on August 23, against Boston Red Sox. They will look to continue their streak on Thursday against Kansas City Royals.
