Consecutive Games with 1+ Home Run Allowed

Pitchers hate giving up home runs. Not only does it mean the score of the game changes and momentum swings to the other team, but it's also the only sure way to increase your ERA as opposed to someone else's (at least for relievers). The most home runs allowed in a single season is currently fifty by Bert Blyleven in 1986. In baseball history, only 404 pitchers have given up 30 or more home runs in one season.

I want to look at the most consecutive games giving up at least one home run. It's likely the higher numbers will be held by starting pitchers simply because they throw more innings than relievers and relievers face fewer batters in every game. As a result, I'll make two lists: one for starters and one for relievers. The lists only cover years since 1957 since that's how far back retrosheet's data (used in the Baseball-Reference Play Index) goes.


Most Consecutive Games with a Home Run Allowed by a Starting Pitcher

1. Bert Blyleven, 9/8/86 to 6/10/87, 20 games, 36 HR allowed during streak
   
2. Curt Young, 6/3/87 to 9/26/87, 19 games, 28 HR
3. Ramon Ortiz, 5/1/05 to 7/17/05, 15 games, 22 HR
4. Mark Leiter, 4/17/96 to 7/4/96, 15 games, 19 HR
5. John Thomson, 5/17/02 to 8/3/02, 14 games, 18 HR
6. Dennis Rasmussen, 7/10/86 to 9/29/86, 14 games, 18 HR
7. Dick Tidrow, 9/10/73 to 5/26/74, 14 games, 19 HR
8. Orlando Pena, 7/3/64 to 9/7/64, 14 games, 19 HR
9. Edgar Gonzalez, 8/29/04 to 4/28/07, 13 games, 18 HR
10. Runelvys Hernandez, 10/2/05 to 8/10/06, 13 games, 18 HR
11. Steve Parris, 7/31/02 to 5/6/03, 13 games, 21 HR
12. Steve Trachsel, 5/25/99 to 7/30/99, 13 games, 20 HR
13. Dave Johnson, 5/23/90 to 7/23/90, 13 games, 17 HR

Tidrow, Pena, and Gonzalez all made relief appearances between their starts, so they may not necessarily belong on the list. If you take them out you're left with a convenient top ten list.

Most Consecutive Games with a Home Run Allowed by a Relief Pitcher

1. Pete Smith, 5/21/95 to 5/19/97, 6 games, 7 HR
2. Jay Hook, 6/27/61 to 7/22/61, 6 games, 7 HR
3. Roman Colon, 5/19/06 to 6/12/06, 5 games, 5 HR
4. Ron Mahay, 5/9/02 to 5/23/02, 5 games, 6 HR
5. Jason Standridge, 8/22/01 to 05/16/02, 5 games, 6 HR
6. Mike Trombley, 7/11/99 to 7/21/99, 5 games, 5 HR
7. Dave Stevens, 7/12/96 to 8/12/96, 5 games, 5 HR
8. Eric Plunk, 7/31/91 to 9/3/91, 5 games, 5 HR
9. Mark Williamson, 7/25/90 to 8/4/90, 5 games, 5 HR
10. Pete Filson, 4/27/86 to 9/8/87, 5 games, 6 HR
11. Doug Corbett, 8/15/86 to 9/1/86, 5 games, 5 HR
12. Bob Stoddard, 8/9/83 to 8/22/83, 5 games, 6 HR
13. Tom Hall, 8/18/74 to 9/17/74, 5 games, 5 HR
14. Bob Heffner, 5/14/65 to 7/10/65, 5 games, 6 HR
15. Lee Strange, 6/22/64 to 7/17/64, 5 games, 5 HR
16. Julio Navarro, 5/3/64 to 5/21/64, 5 games, 6 HR
17. Luis Arroyo, 7/8/62 to 7/22/62, 5 games, 5 HR
18. Tom Gorman, 7/7/57 to 8/2/57, 5 games, 5 HR

The italicized players had starts between their relief appearances, so they might not belong on the list. It looks like 1986-1987 was a tough year for starters and relievers in the home run department.

The player with the longest active streak is Victor Santos who gave up home runs in seven straight appearances with Cincinnati and Baltimore. To break it up into the categories here, he has allowed at least one home run in his last four relief appearances and last three starts.