Baltimore Orioles History: The Four Consecutive Shutouts of 1957

While today’s MLB has some of the best pitchers ever to stand on the mound, the Baltimore Orioles had some notable pitching moments throughout history.

One of those moments was in 1957 when the Baltimore Orioles had four consecutive shutouts, which set an AL record.

The NL record belongs to the 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates who had six in 1903.

The four consecutive Orioles shutouts occurred between June 24 and June 28. One was against the Detroit Tigers, two against the Kansas City Athletics, and the final one was against the Cleveland Indians. All four were at Memorial Stadium.

The first shutout was on June 24 against the Tigers. Hal Brown pitched for the Orioles in all nine innings. He gave up five hits, walked one, and struck out 6. The closest he came to giving up a run was in the first inning when Detroit’s leadoff batter Harvey Kuenn reached third base after an error, a walk, and an Al Kaline groundout. After that inning, he never saw more than four batters in an inning. The O’s won 6-0. In eight years in Birdland, Brown had 9 shutouts.

The second shutout was the next day against the Athletics. Billy Loes pitched all nine innings with three hits and six strikeouts. He faced the minimum in all but the 8th and 9th innings. The Orioles won 5-0. Loes pitched for four years for the Orioles and had three shutouts.

More from Orioles History

• Baltimore Orioles: 2023 Hall of Fame BBWAA Ballot Features J.J. Hardy
• Baltimore Orioles: Five Treats from the 2022 Season
• Former Orioles Players on Playoff Teams this October
• On This Day: 2012 Ragtag Orioles Win Wild Card Game
• The April Orioles Seem Like a Completely Different Team

On June 26, the Orioles recorded their third shutout. This one belonged to Connie Johnson who in nine innings gave up three hits and struck out four. Like Loes, Johnson only saw four batters in two innings, too. His were in the 2nd and 6th. The Orioles won the close game 1-0 off of Jim Busby home run. Johnson had five shutouts in the three seasons with the Orioles.

The final shutout of the streak belonged to Ray Moore. In his shutout, he also had three hits. But, he had three walks and two strike outs. The Orioles won 6-0. During his time with the Orioles, Moore had three shutouts.

The Orioles actually broke their own consecutive shutout record in 1974 when they shut out five teams between September 2 and September 6.

Then, they did it again in 1995 to close out the season between September 26 and the final game of the season on October 1. Mike Mussina pitched two of those shutouts.