Cole streak impressive, but …
Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole took a streak of 16 starts in a row in which he had walked two batters or fewer into last night’s game against the Braves at Atlanta.
While it is an impressive streak for a young pitcher, it is just the 31st-longest by a Pirates’ hurler since 1914, when records are first available.
The longest is 42 game by imitable left-hander Zane Smith from Aug. 14, 1990-Sept 21 1991. The streak started right after he was acquired from the Montreal Expos in a trade.
Babe Adams is second on the list with a 38-game streak from July 9, 1919-Aug. 7, 1920.
Adams is also one of three pitchers with a 33-game streak — from July 2, 1921-May 7, 1923 — along with Larry French (June 26, 1932-June 23, 1933) and Vernon Law (June 8, 1966-June 20, 1967).
Meanwhile, Cole is 12-2 with 120 strikeouts in 16 starts since last Sept. 7. It is the most wins by any major league pitcher during that span.
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The heretofore hitting-challenged Chris Stewart — who had a .214 lifetime batting average before joining the Pirates prior to last season — tied a club Monday night when he became the fourth in franchise to hit three doubles in a game in a win over the Giants at San Francisco.
Stewart tied the record set by Earl Smith on May 27, 1925 against the Chicago Cubs and matched by Danny Kravitz on June 21, 1959 versus the St. Louis Cardinals and Ryan Doumit on April 18, 2009 against the Atlanta Braves.
The overall club record is four by Hall of Famer Paul Waner on May 20, 1932 against the Cardinals.
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The Pirates finished May with a run differential of plus-16, scoring 119 and allowing 103 while compiling a 14-14 record.
The plus-16 ranked ninth in the major leagues and fifth in the National League. The Giants led the majors with a plus-40 mark then were swept in a three-game series by the Pirates to begin June.