Scioscia reflects on Hershiser’s scoreless streak as Greinke chases it

In 1988, Mike Scioscia had the best seat in the house to witness one of the most dominating pitching stretches in major league history.

Now that streak is under assault, and Scioscia once again has a connection to the pitcher in question.

The Dodgers’ Zack Greinke went eight shutout innings against the Nationals on Sunday afternoon, extending his scoreless streak to 43 2/3 innings, the longest anyone has gone since Orel Hershiser went 59 innings in 1988.

Scioscia was Hershiser’s catcher for that miraculous run, starting five of the seven games it took him to surpass Don Drysdale’s previous mark of 58 that many thought would never be broken.

And even then, Hershiser went down to the wire. He finished off his complete game Aug. 30 with four scoreless innings, then went the full nine innings six times in a row, with the last start coming on the final day of the season.

Against the Padres that game, Hershiser was his usual dominant self, giving up only four hits and walking just one. However, the Dodgers’ offense, Scioscia included, was struggling just as much as San Diego, recording four hits and two walks against Andy Hawkins. Scioscia went 0 for 4, stranding one runner.

So the game headed into extra innings, and both pitchers came out for the 10th. By then, Scioscia had come out for backup Rick Dempsey, and against the first hitter, a dropped third strike that allowed the batter to advance to first base. A sacrifice bunt and groundout moved him to third with two outs. Hershiser then intentionally walked the next batter and induced a fly ball from the next to break the record.

“If we did score, he would have thrown nine innings. We score a run, it would have carried over to the next year, which would have watered it down a bit,” Scioscia said.

That game was the only one during Hershiser’s streak in which he did not record the victory. The Padres came away with the walk-off win in the 15th inning. Over those 59 innings, he surrendered 31 hits and struck out 38.

Hershiser’s run kept the Dodgers in contention during a pennant race, Scioscia said.

Fast forward to 2015, and Greinke has been untouchable over his last six starts. In contrast to Hershiser, he has yet to pitch a complete game. He has given up 15 hits over that time and struck out 43.

Scioscia had Greinke on his side for one season in 2012, but never saw dominance of this level from him. However, he hardly seemed surprised.

“Getting close, isn’t he? That’s one of the records that everyone thought wouldn’t be broken. Drysdale had it; when Orel broke that, it was incredible, the way it kept adding up,” Scioscia said. “I’m sure there’s going to be some excitement his next couple starts, for sure.”

One of those starts could come against the Angels, depending on how Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly decides to play it. Over the next two weeks, the Dodgers have two off days. If Mattingly chooses to pitch Greinke every five days, he will miss out on the Angels series from July 31 to Aug. 2. If he instead sticks to the order of his rotation, Greinke’s spot would come up July 31 at home against the Halos.

In order to get there, however, he’ll have to top the Mets on the road this Friday. New York has the lowest team average in the MLB and is third from the bottom in runs per game.