The Boston Red Sox’s odd little slice of MLB history is still intact.
A record set by the 2005 club has survived for 21 years, and a Los Angeles Dodgers run came close to toppling it before Monday night’s game against the Rockies finally ended in 11 innings.
The mark is consecutive games to begin a season without going to extra innings, and Boston still owns it at 99, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
Los Angeles had pushed its own streak to 91 games before the extra-inning game on Monday snapped it. For now, that leaves the Red Sox untouched.
There’s a strange symmetry to it, too. Both clubs were defending World Series champions when they put together their long stretches of nine-inning baseball.
Boston’s 2005 team, fresh off ending the Curse of the Bambino, managed to avoid extras until the 99th game of the season. That’s when the streak finally broke in a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay on July 25, 2005.
The next day, the Red Sox were right back in extra innings and turned the tables with a 10-9 win in 10 innings over the Devil Rays.
In that first game, Johnny Damon homered for Boston and Curt Schilling took the loss in relief. The following day, Damon went deep again, with Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek also homering. Schilling pitched in relief once more, and this time he got the win.
So the Dodgers’ near miss leaves Boston’s record standing, and it still looks like a tough one to beat.
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