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Two Extra Inning Wins To Start A Season

By Minor Leaguer
April 7, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA: Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (13) slides safely into home in the bottom of the twelfth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric P. Mull-USPRESSWIRE
April 7, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA: Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (13) slides safely into home in the bottom of the twelfth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric P. Mull-USPRESSWIRE

The following eight MLB teams have started a season with two consecutive extra inning wins since 1918:

  • 1935 Cleveland Indians. Game 1: 2-1 win over the St. Louis Browns in 14 innings, Game 2: 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers in 14 innings. Lost next game 3-2 in 13 innings.
  • 1943 Cincinnati Reds. Game 1: 1-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in 11 innings, Game 2: 1-0 win in 10 innings. Lost next game 2-1 in 9 innings.
  • 1969 Kansas City Royals. Game 1: 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in 12 innings, Game 2: 4-3 win in 17 innings. Lost next game 5-0 in 9 innings.
  • 1985 New York Mets. Game 1: 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in 10 innings, Game 2: 2-1 win in 11 innings. Won next game 1-0 in 9 innings.
  • 1999 Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 1: 8-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in 11 innings, Game 2: 3-2 win in 10 innings. Won next game 6-4 in 9 innings.
  • 2004 Minnesota Twins. Game 1: 7-4 win over the Cleveland Indians in 11 innings, Game 2: 7-6 win in 15 innings. Lost next game 11-4 in 9 innings.
  • 2007 Atlanta Braves. Game 1: 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Philles in 10 innings, Game 2: 3-2 win in 11 innings. Won next game 8-4 in 9 innings.
  • 2012 Toronto Blue Jays. Game 1: 7-4 win over the Cleveland Indians in 16 innings, Game 2: 7-4 win in 12 innings.

Interesting points:

  • 4 of the 8 times this has happened, game 1 and game 2 finished with the exact same score
  • These teams are 3-4 in the game after their two-game winning streak--will the Jays even up that record tomorrow?
  • No team has won 3 consecutive extra inning games to start a season. In fact, only 4 teams in history (1919 Philadelphia A's, 1935 Cleveland Indians, 1964 New York Yankees, 1969 Boston Red Sox) have played in extra innings in their first three games of a season. Because of two-game series in their schedules, none of the 4 teams' opponents are on this list. Will the Jays accomplish this feat tomorrow?

Source: Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index. I had to do the search in bunches of years because it took too long to search all 1918-2012 in one go: 1918-1949, 1950-1979, 1980-2012.

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