Aroldis Chapman still hasn’t given up a hit or a run in a major league stadium since late July.
Unfortunately for him and the Red Sox, their game in a minor league stadium against the vagabond Athletics on Wednesday counted as a real, live MLB game, so the closer’s historic streak of dominance officially came to an end.
Chapman was called upon in the bottom of the ninth in West Sacramento, after Rob Refsnyder had tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI double in the top of the inning. To that point, Chapman had faced 50 consecutive batters without giving up a hit, a streak dating back to July 23 in Philadelphia.
Yet after falling behind 1-2, Shea Langeliers put a good swing on a well-placed pitch on the outside edge of the plate, driving a no-doubt double into the left-center field gap.
Brent Rooker followed that up with a productive out, flying out to right field to move the runner to third, before Lawrence Butler delivered a walk-off, line-drive single over shortstop to plate the run and win the game for the A’s.
The loss cost the Red Sox a chance for a sweep in West Sacramento, ending their road trip with a 3-3 record before they return home to host the Yankees this weekend.
Chapman’s stretch of 17 consecutive outings without allowing a hit was the third-longest stretch since 1901, but Chapman retired significantly more batters than the two relievers ahead of him on that list.
Over the stretch, the 37-year-old was simply untouchable. After allowing a game-tying solo home run to J.T. Realmuto on July 23, Chapman retired the next batter he faced to get out of that inning. He then pitched 14.2 innings over his next 17 appearances, allowing just four walks while striking out 21 of the 49 batters he faced. His spotless ERA during that run came alongside a 0.273 WHIP.
The run reached an uncanny level on Sunday, when — due to a runner reaching base on a wild pitch on a strikeout — Chapman struck out all four batters he faced in his one inning of work in Arizona.
Chapman lowered his ERA on the season from 1.34 after the July 23 outing to 0.98 entering Wednesday. Now after allowing a run in his brief outing on Wednesday, the ERA is back up to 1.14 — which shows just how difficult it is for anyone to maintain a sub-1.00 ERA into September.
In 61 appearances this season, Chapman has allowed a run just seven times, and he’s yet to allow more than one run in any outing. Since May 28, he’s pitched 38 times, and he’s allowed a run on just two of those occasions.
It was certainly a bit shocking to see Chapman allow the hits and the run on Wednesday, but it was a remarkable stretch that had to end eventually. And with the playoffs now just a little over two weeks away, the Red Sox will hope Chapman can simply start up another streak through September and October.
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