Soccer Goalie Solo Finally Allows a Goal

U.S. women's soccer goalie Hope Solo had her streak of 796 minutes without allowing a goal end today, in the Americans' 2-1 loss to Sweden in the women's World Cup (90 minutes is the regulation game length). The streak-ending goal came on a penalty kick, which is a special type of play that is especially difficult for the goalie to defend. However, Sweden scored again roughly 20 minutes later, so Solo's streak would have ended in the same game (albeit a little further along), even if we exclude penalty kicks.

Federer Finally Loses a Grand Slam Match in Which He Led Two Sets to None

Roger Federer hasn't been winning Grand Slam tournaments lately, but one way he appeared to be unassailable was when he won the first two sets (in a 3-out-of-5 format) in one of the Slam events (Wimbledon and the Australian, French, and U.S. Opens). Before today, in fact, he was 178-0 when ahead two sets to none in a Grand Slam event. That streak is now over, as Federer lost at Wimbledon to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

South Carolina Win Streaks in Postseason College Baseball

In winning its second straight NCAA College World Series baseball championship Tuesday night, the University of South Carolina established a number of streak-related records.

Since a 1999 expansion of the tournament to 64 teams, the format has consisted of four phases, each double-elimination. First, the 64 teams are divided into 16 regional sites of four teams each. The winning team in a regional will either have a 3-0, 3-1, or 4-1 record. The 16 regional winners are then paired off into eight super-regionals, each a 2-out-of-3 series. The eight super-regional winners then go to the College World Series, with preliminary rounds (again double-elimination) producing two finalists. The final championship series is again 2-out-of-3.

According to this article on the Gamecocks' 2011 title, South Carolina "became the first team to ever go 10-0 in an NCAA [baseball] tournament." The team went 3-0 in the regionals (beating Georgia Southern once and Stetson twice), then swept two from Connecticut in the super-regional. A 3-0 run through the World Series early rounds (beating Texas A&M once and Virginia twice) landed South Carolina in the final round, where it swept Florida, 2-0 (2011 game-by-game log). 

Last year, South Carolina dropped its World Series opener, before rebounding for four straight wins to make the championship finals. The Gamecocks then swept UCLA, 2-0, to capture the title. Adding South Carolina's closing six victories in last year's World Series to this year's 10 straight wins in the overall postseason and five straight in the World Series yields some monster streaks.

As above-linked the article on South Carolina's 2011 championship notes, "The Gamecocks' streaks of 16 NCAA tournament wins and 11 straight in the CWS are both the longest all-time."

Eight Straight Twins Get Hits to Open Game

Talk about a fast start offensively to a baseball game! According to MLB.com:

In the top of the first inning Tuesday, the first eight Minnesota Twins hit safely, alternating singles and doubles. With those eight straight hits to begin the game, the Twins tied a Major League record accomplished six times before.

(Thanks to David Vincent, whose message to the Society for American Baseball Research [SABR] discussion group brought the Twins' streak to my attention.)

Golfer McIlroy Hot; Baseball's Marlins Not

Rory McIlroy maintained his torrid pace all the way through the men's U.S. Open golf tournament, ultimately winning at 16-under-par (see Friday's posting, immediately below, for background). Second-place Jason Day, who finished 8 strokes behind McIlroy, went bogey-free (i.e., made par or better) on his final 45 holes.

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Baseball's Florida Marlins are now 1-18 for the month of June. Manager Edwin Rodriguez resigned before today's loss.

Rory McIlory Exhibiting Hot Play in Opening Rounds of Majors

Northern Ireland's young Rory McIlroy tends to have a hot hand in the early rounds of the major men's pro golf tournaments, as I've graphed below (data source). However, he also sometimes goes erratic. He's done really well in his first two rounds of the U.S. Open, which is currently ongoing, achieving par or better on the first 35 holes he played, before double-bogeying the 36th (18th hole of Round 2). We'll see if he can retain his spectacular form on Saturday and Sunday to score his first victory in a major.

Bautista Leads American League in Monthly Homers for Five Straight Months

The following announcement of a major home-run streak appeared at the beginning of June, as part of ESPN.com's collaboration with the Elias Sports Bureau:

Jose Bautista finished the month of May with 11 home runs, the most in the American League. It was the fifth straight month in which Bautista led the A.L. in homers (excluding March and October). Bautista led the American League in homers in July, August and September of 2010 and in April and May of 2011. The last player to lead a league in home runs (outright or tied) for five consecutive months was Jimmie Foxx. Foxx led the A.L. in homers in June, July, August and September in 1933 and in April in 1934.

Naturally, an accomplishment for which one must go back 77 years to find an equal is quite noteworthy -- especially when that equal is the caliber of Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx. Still, the above report of the record by Toronto right-fielder Bautista raised some questions in my mind.

• Was Bautista merely squeaking by with his monthly home-run leads or was he blowing away the competition?
• As I eventually came to realize, the report carefully qualifies the record in terms of Bautista's leading only the American League or leading "a league" in home runs during particular months. So, during how many of these months did he lead Major League Baseball overall in home-run output?
• The report also notes that March and October were excluded. If one were to add March totals to April's and October totals to September's, would that change the conclusions? 

Using the superb Home Run Tracker website from ESPN's Stats & Information Group, I reviewed all MLB hitters' home-run output during 2011 and all American League hitters' homers for July onward in 2010. Each home run is documented on its own line of data and the lines can be sorted by hitters' names. I simply perused down the screen, counting a given hitter's homers by month only when it looked like he had a sizable number of blasts (I overlooked 2010 NL data in the interest of time). The following chart presents the fruit of my labor (you may click on the chart to enlarge it, realizing that the top and bottom parts are separate, due to size limitations).

The first finding to notice is that Bautista's margins in leading the AL during July, August, and September of 2010 were pretty comfortable. No other AL players (barring anyone I missed in my "retinal inspection" of the Tracker data) hit double-digit homers in a month. Bautista's smallest margin was 2, as Yankees Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez each clouted 9 homers in September, compared to Bautista's 11. (I have highlighted cells of particular interest in light green.)

It is during 2011 that things are more interesting, in my view. In April, Bautista's 9 dingers were surpassed by National Leaguer (Cub) Alfonso Soriano's 10. If we add National Leaguer (Brewer) Ryan Braun's 1 March homer to his 9 from April, he would also exceed Bautista. Yet another NL player, Cincinnati's Jay Bruce, exceeded Bautista in May, 12 to 11.

As the chart shows, if Bautista is to lead the AL again in June, he really needs to get going, as he's been in a slump lately. Fortunately for the Toronto slugger, no one else in the league has pulled away in June homers, with Texas's Nelson Cruz and Boston's David (Big Papi) Ortiz leading with 5 each. (Note that some of the June 2011 homer totals may be slightly outdated at the time of this posting Thursday afternoon, as I did the bulk of my tabulating Wednesday morning.)

For what it's worth, Bautista's home field, the Rogers Centre, currently ranks as one of the more hitter-friendly venues in MLB, according to "Park Factor" statistics.

In conclusion, although there are some reasons to chip away a little bit at the magnitude of Bautista's accomplishment, a first-in-77-years record speaks for itself.

Mavs Hotter Than Heat in NBA Title-Clincher

In their NBA title-clinching, Game 6 win over the Miami Heat last night, the Dallas Mavericks put on their usual flurry of scoring spurts (play-by-play sheet). Most dramatic was a Mavs' 17-2 run, which took them from trailing 22-15 to leading  32-24 near the end of the first quarter.

Dallas's DeShawn Stevenson, whose three-pointer put an exclamation point on the 17-2 run with 0:24 remaining in the first quarter, hit a pair of additional threes shortly thereafter, with 10:06 and 9:41 left in the second quarter, increasing the Mavericks' lead to 40-28. The Heat responded with a 16-1 spurt of their own (the Mavs' only point coming on a technical-foul free throw), to go up 44-41.

Miami had little firepower the rest of the way, enabling Dallas to use more modest-sized runs -- 7-0 (from down 49-46 to up 53-49), 8-0 (from down 56-55 to up 63-56), and 8-0 (to expand an 81-77 lead to 89-77) -- to pull away.

Texas A&M Continues Track and Field Domination

For the third straight year, Texas A&M has swept the men's and women's team titles at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) track and field championships.

Mavs Shoots Lights-Out in Game 5 of NBA Final

Did Dallas have another big spurt late in Game 5 of the NBA finals? Of course it did. In immediate response to a 9-0 Miami run that put the Heat ahead 99-95, the Mavericks closed out the game on a 17-4 run to prevail 112-103 (fourth quarter play-by-play sheet). The Mavs, who also made 13-of-19 three-point attempts (68.4%), now lead the series 3-2.

Big Spurt Allows Mavs to Tie NBA Finals 2-2

Another game in the NBA finals, another late Dallas spurt. Trailing to Miami 74-65 with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Mavericks went on a 17-4 run to take the lead, 82-78 (play-by-play sheet). Dallas held on for an 86-83 victory, tying the series at 2-2.

Mavs Unleash Scoring Burst, But Heat Holds on for 2-1 NBA Finals Lead

The Miami Heat held on for an 88-86 win over the Dallas Mavericks, despite a 15-2 run by the Mavs in the third quarter. Miami now leads the NBA finals 2-1.

No Djok: Tennis Win Streak Ends at 43 Matches

The following chart says it all, as Novak Djokovic has fallen to Roger Federer in the semifinals of the French Open. You may click on the graphic to enlarge it.

20-2 Mavs Spurt Fuels Comeback to Even NBA Finals 1-1

In a game that was as full of team spurts as any you'll see, Dallas stunned Miami tonight to even the NBA finals at a game apiece. With the Heat leading by a seemingly comfortable 88-73 well into the fourth quarter, Jason Terry scored with 6:18 left to launch an improbable 20-2 run that put the Mavericks ahead 93-90 with 26 seconds remaining. After Miami tied the game with a three, Dirk Nowitzki hit a layup in the closing seconds for a 95-93 Mavs win (play-by-play sheet).

The Heat's 88-73 lead itself was the product of a Miami 13-0 burst. Miami also enjoyed a 15-1 run spanning the second and third quarters, converting a 51-42 deficit to a 57-52 lead.

Tonight's game also was the reverse of a classic game in the 2006 NBA finals, also between Dallas and Miami. The Mavericks, leading two games to none at the time and seemingly en route to a 3-0 lead, blew an 89-76 lead with 6:33 remaining, to lose 98-96 (fourth quarter play-by-play). Dallas never won another game in the series that year...

UPDATE: Neil Paine at Basketball Reference has more on Dallas's comeback.

Opponent's Default Leaves Djokovic Win Streak Unchanged

Novak Djokovic's quarter-final opponent at the French Open, Fabio Fognini, defaulted before ever taking the court, a result of Fognini's grueling (though victorious) match in the previous round. The default win does not count as part of Djokovic's winning streak, which remains at 43 (41 to start the 2011 season). Djokovic next faces Roger Federer Friday in the semi-finals.

Djokovic Win Streak Up to 43 Matches

Novak Djokovic wins again at the French Open, putting him in the quarter-finals. Here's the updated chart (on which you may click to enlarge):

Djokovic Wins 42nd Straight Match

Novak Djokovic has won again, taking his darkness-suspended third-round match in the French Open against Juan Martin del Potro. Here is the updated chart, which you may click to enlarge.

Florida Women's Tennis Team Ends Long Stanford Streaks

Earlier this week, the University of Florida won the NCAA women's tennis team championship, defeating host school and No. 1 seed Stanford, 4-3. According to this article:

The second-seeded Gators (31-1)... end[ed] top-seeded Stanford’s (28-1) NCAA-record 184 consecutive home-match win streak and its 47-match overall win streak. Stanford has not lost at home since Feb. 27, 1999 in a 5-4 loss to Cal and had not dropped a decision since a loss at UCLA on Feb. 26, 2010.

Halting Stanford's 12-year home winning streak did not come easily for Florida. In what turned out to be the decisive match, the Gators' Lauren Embree came back from 4-0 down in the third set to win.

Finer Points of "Losing" vs. "Winless" Streaks for Baseball Pitchers

When evaluating the magnitude of a given streak, it is important to consider the streak's precise definition. Rarely is such attention to detail more important than in the current pitching struggles of Toronto's Jo-Jo Reyes. During Reyes's skid, his official win-loss record has been 0-13, far short Anthony Young's mark of 0-27 during stretches of the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Yet, Reyes is taking plenty of grief in the sports media.

The key to understanding the attention being garnered by Reyes, in my view, is the fact that pitching wins and losses are not exhaustive categories. In other words, a pitcher can be credited not only with a win or loss for a given stint on the mound, but also a no-decision (other categories, such as save and hold, are available for relief appearances). If we say a pitcher has a "losing streak," we're talking about repeatedly getting an actual "L" on the scorecard. If we say that a pitcher has a "winless streak," on the other hand, we're talking about all outcomes other than a "W," primarily L's or no-decisions.

Young's streak was a losing streak -- the number of consecutive times he received a loss decision in games where he got some kind of official W-or-L decision. By this definition, he lost 27 consecutive games.

In Reyes's case, his dubious achievement consists of starting 28 consecutive games and not coming away with a win in any of them -- in other words, a winless streak. This length of winless streak is a major-league record, which Reyes now shares with two other pitchers. By failing to win in his next start (if Toronto will start him anymore), Reyes would hold the record all by himself. As noted above, Reyes has a win-loss record of 0-13 during his streak, but in theory, it could be 0-0 if he had 28 straight no-decisions.

I have created the graph below with the aim of clarifying the situation. It shows all of Young's and Reyes's pitching appearances (in many of which they were sent to the showers) during their respective streaks. You may click on the graph to enlarge it.

The data come from the website Baseball Reference (Young 1992, 1993; Reyes 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011).

Young's 27 losses fell within the scope of 79 consecutive games he pitched, spanning two seasons, in which he never achieved a win. As can be seen, he had a bunch of no-decisions and, on a positive note, some saves in a relief role. There clearly were games during the losing streak during which Young pitched well and easily could have gotten a win with better luck (here and here). But with a starting hurler's prospects for a win or a loss partially under the control of the hitters and relief pitchers on his team, a good showing on the mound isn't necessarily enough for a win.

Early in Reyes's streak, he suffered a string of five losses in five starts. Ever since, his losses have tended to come not in bunches, but sporadically, amidst large numbers of no-decisions.

What to conclude about these two pitchers? In Young's favor, his loss total during his doldrums tells us that he was the pitcher of record when the opposing team scored its winning run(s) about a third of the time (27/79), whereas for Reyes, the figure is nearly one-half (13/28 starts). Also, whereas Young did not achieve any wins during his streak, he did achieve the objective his team gave him -- holding or saving a lead -- during some of his relief appearances.

Because of his predominant role of starter, Reyes cannot be said to have achieved his and his team's objective of winning games; he may have successfully kept his team in contention some of the time, however.

Further parameters, such as each pitcher's actual numbers of earned runs allowed and run support from his teammates, are necessary for a more complete evaluation of what happened with Young and what is currently going on with Reyes. However, such elements are beyond the scope of the current posting and will need to be revisited later.

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Fittingly for an NBA playoff season that has featured many dramatic scoring runs, the Miami Heat outscored Chicago 18-3 over the final three minutes Thursday night to edge the Bulls, 83-80, and capture the Eastern Conference finals in five games.

Djokovic Wins 41st Straight Match

Novak Djokovic won his second-round match in the French Open and 41st straight match overall, warranting the following update to the Djokovic win chart (click on the chart to enlarge it and here for background information).