Red Sox’ Aroldis Chapman Increases Hitless Streak to 50, Lowers ERA to 0.98

Red Sox pitcher Aroldis Chapman is having a historic run of dominance at precisely the right time, as the flamethrowing closer has run his hitless streak to 50 and lowered his ERA to an anemic 0.98.

Chapman put an exclamation point on the hitless streak on Sunday, when he struck out four Diamondbacks hitters in one inning, after a wild pitch that got past his catcher.

The streak began after July 23, when Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto hit a home run off of Chapman. Since that time, Chapman has made 17 appearances for the Red Sox in which he has not allowed a hit in 14 2/3 innings.

He now has an ERA of 0.98, making him the only pitcher in MLB to have an ERA under one while pitching at least 20 innings.

“To do it at this age and with where we’re at as an industry, as far as hitters and the adjustments that they make, it’s eye-opening,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Sunday.

Chapman’s hitless streak puts him in historic company. According to WBZ News’ Matt Geagan, the Red Sox’s ace closer now holds the third-longest hitless streak since 1901, behind Randy Choate (20) in 2011 and Tim Byrdak (18) in 2018.