Every MLB team has lost more than ten games in a row at some point or another, though not all losing streaks are equal in length. So here is every MLB team’s longest losing streak in MLB history:

Phillies: 23 games in 1961

The 1961 Phillies setting the MLB record for longest losing streak was part of a woeful 2-28 stretch spanning about a month. The Phillies lost eight one-run games during their losing streak but failed to come clutch and end the streak on eight different occasions. The stretch put the Phillies on pace for the 5th-worst regular season record in the modern era, although they did manage to avoid that title.

Orioles: 21 games in 1988

In 1988, the Orioles experienced a nightmare scenario to begin an MLB season: losing the first 21 games. The O’s were already 16 games behind first place on April 28th. There were plenty of opportunities to end the streak before history was made; a 1-0 loss to the Guardians in the eleventh inning, and an error by left fielder Jeff Stone scoring the Royals’ go-ahead run in the 9th inning in a 4-3 loss. Nevertheless, the Orioles defied the odds by failing to win a game for nearly a month. Their 50-72 record during the remainder of the season was sufficient to avoid making even more history, though a 107-loss season is never a proud feat.

White Sox: 21 games in 2024

The 2024 White Sox season was record-breaking, but for all the wrong reasons. They had a 3-22 stretch, a 1-18 stretch, a 2-18 stretch, and a 21-game losing streak, which all amounted to the most losses in a single season in over 100 years. After losing seven straight games, the White Sox came one strike away from ending the streak and avoiding the record books. However, Jonah Heim hit a game-tying single on a 3-2 count, which set up the walk-off hit for Wyatt Langford in the following inning. Had Heim hit that ball a split-second earlier, it becomes a routine play for the second basemen. Coincidentally, the Orioles ended the White Sox losing streak, with their 8-1 loss failing to put the Sox ahead of them for most consecutive games lost.

Athletics: 20 games in 1916

The 1916 season was not exactly a bright spot for the A’s. The A’s had a 20-game losing streak that was part of a 4-56 stretch, which helped them record the fourth-worst regular season win-loss record in MLB history. The A’s had even won 99 games two years prior and reached three World Series from 1910 to 1914, so their 1916 season caught everyone by surprise.

Royals: 19 games in 2005

The Royals experienced a 19-game losing streak in 2005 during a 29-year playoff drought that lasted from 1985 to 2014. Despite some winning stretches during the season, the 05′ Royals ultimately finished with a 56-106 record thanks to a losing streak that spanned from July 28th to August 19th. The Royals’ 106 losses came disproportionately from their pitching staff, which averaged a 5.56 ERA. Zack Greinke, the team’s supposed “ace”, struggled in year two, posting a 5-17 record and a 5.80 ERA. The starting rotation as a whole averaged an abysmal 5.86 ERA.

Tigers: 19 games in 1975

Just two years removed from a winning season, and three removed from a playoff berth, the Tigers suffered through a 57-102 season and a 19-game losing streak in 1975. The Tigers actually began the season 23-24 but fell to the bottom of the league’s standings with a 3-21 stretch, which did not involve the streak. After a brief winning period shortly after, Detroit found themselves only seven games below .500 until a 19-game losing streak put their playoff hopes to rest. The Tigers continued to lose consistently for the rest of the season, ending the year with over 100 losses.

Reds: 19 games in 1914

An MLB team that posts a .634 winning percentage at the beginning of June could collapse down the stretch, but should not be capable of losing nineteen consecutive games, right? In 1914, the Reds did what was thought to be the impossible, and imploded following a hot start in the worst way imaginable. After a 26-15 record on June 1st, the Reds went an abysmal 34-79 for the rest of the season, including a 19-game losing streak in September. If the Reds had kept that pace for an entire season, their winning percentage would rank as the 25th worst of all time.

Twins: 18-game playoff losing streak

The Minnesota Twins don’t have a particularly long regular season losing streak, though they do hold the record for the longest playoff losing streak, which no team has come close to beating. From 2004 to 2023, the Twins lost a whopping eighteen consecutive playoff games, in seven different postseason appearances. The Twins are a textbook example of a playoff choker. To finally win a playoff game, Minnesota relied on some highly questionable game management by the Blue Jays, who pulled starter Jose Berrios from the game after just three innings with no runs, five strikeouts, and 47 pitches.

Braves: 17 games in 1977

The 1977 Braves’ season was over before it even got going, as a 17-game losing streak just one week into the season put Atlanta at a 9-24 record that could not be overcome. Despite having a 38-year-old Phil Niekro recording an 8.9 WAR, the Braves still lost over 100 games in 1977, which has to be a record. Jerry Royster, however, did set a record for the worst single-season WAR of all-time at -4.0, and he unfortunately, was not the only Braves position player with a WAR under -2.5.

Mariners: 17 games in 2011

The Mariners had a promising first half of the 2011 season; sitting at a 37-35 record, only two games removed from a wild card spot, when they weren’t even expected to be a competitive team. However, they crashed and burned, losing seventeen consecutive games out of nowhere, which was even more unexpected considering the Mariners had played about average up until that point. Thirteen of those seventeen games were road games, which can be fairly strenuous, especially when playing tough opponents. On July 19th, the Mariners blew a 5-2 lead to the Blue Jays, eventually losing in fourteen innings.

Mets: 17 games in 1962

The Mets had a historic start to their franchise, recording the third-lowest single-season winning percentage and losing seventeen consecutive games. Ten of the seventeen consecutive losses were decided by two runs or less, as poor luck and game management played a role in such an awful stretch of games. The Mets’ losing streak in May put them at a lowly 12-36 record, and things didn’t get much better from there. The Mets finished their first franchise season with an abysmal 40-120 record.

Diamondbacks: 17 games in 2021

In 2021, the Diamondbacks were in full rebuild mode, experiencing a 52-110 season after trading most of their key players. The D-Backs had an especially rough 7-50 stretch from mid-May until the all-star break, which included a 17-game losing streak and a 13-game losing streak. The main lowlight for the D-Backs occurred on June 12th, where they led 5-0 early over the Angels, and slowly choked the lead away for an 8-7 loss. The D-Backs rarely came that close to ending the streak, until an eventual 5-1 win over the Brewers.  

Red Sox: 17 games in 1926

Sitting with a 42-79 record in the middle of August, the Red Sox season was well over as they were already destined for last place in the American league standings. Subsequently losing seventeen straight games didn’t mean much for the Red Sox at that point, but it did get them their second straight 100+ loss season.

Dodgers: 16 games in 1944

The Dodgers had posted a winning record in 1943 and were likely to do the same in ’44, with a 33-30 first half. Things, however, went steeply downhill for a Dodgers team that was seemingly in the mix for a playoff spot. They proceeded to lose fifteen consecutive games, en route to a 63-91 record for the season. The 18-year-old starting pitcher Cal McLish recorded a -3.2 WAR and a 7.82 ERA, which would not last him a full season workload in today’s MLB.

Cubs: 16 games 1996-1997

On September 13th, 1996, the Cubs sat at a 74-72 record, 5 games behind the division leader, and seven games behind the wild card spot. The wild card spot or the division was still winnable for the Cubs, but they needed to get hot during the season’s final 16 games. Not only did the Cubs not win enough to make the playoffs, they posted a horrendous 2-14 record for the remainder of the season, which included losing the final two games.

The momentum that ended the 1996 season seemed to carry well into the ’97 season, as the Cubs lost the first 14 games and finished with a lowly 64-98 record. If you combine the Cubs’ record at the end of the 1996 season with the start of the 1997 season, you get a 2-30 record.

Cardinals: 16 games in 1916-1917

Most of the Cardinals’ losing streak occurred during the 1916 season, containing 14 of their 16 losses. The Cards were far removed from playoff contention in mid-September, thus the losing streak was insignificant, except for making other teams look better. The Cardinals had a bounce-back season in 1917 after losing the first two games, sporting a respectable 82-70 record, showing that what happened in the previous season stayed in that season.  

Astros: 15 games in 2013

2013 was the Astros’ third straight season totaling over 105 losses, and they would have avoided 105 losses in 2013 had they not lost all of the last fifteen games of the season. The Astros had multiple league leaders that season; Chris Carter led the league in offensive strikeouts, Jose Altuve led the league in caught stealing and starting pitcher Lucas Harrell led the league in walks. And the Astros had already clinched the no. 1 overall pick earlier in September, thus their 15-game losing streak was unnecessary and didn’t accomplish anything.

Rangers: 15 games in 1972

The Rangers’ first season as an MLB team was not a walk in the park for them. The Rangers lost 100 games, thanks to a 15-game losing streak during the tail end of the season. They most notably struggled offensively, recording a .217/.290/.290 team batting line.

Rays: 15 games in 2002

The 2002 Rays are yet another team to experience a lengthy losing streak at the beginning of a franchise’s existence. 2002 was clearly a long time ago, as the Rays had a subpar pitching staff. In fact, subpar might be an understatement considering they ranked dead last in team ERA, and the entire pitching staff totaled a WAR of 1.9. During their 15-game losing streak early in the season, the Rays allowed 5.26 runs per game.

Angels: 14 games in 2022

After years of underperforming with an above-average roster, the Angels finally appeared to be playing up their potential in 2022. On May 24th, the Angels sat at a 27-17 record and had the American League’s first wild card spot. The Angels, however, crashed and burned, enduring a 14-game losing streak that cost manager Joe Maddon and GM Perry Minasian their jobs. The Angels ended the losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Red Sox thanks to a 7-inning, 1-run effort from Shohei Ohtani. However, the Angels still sat under .500 and stayed under .500 for the remainder of the season.

Pirates: 14 games in 1954-1955

The Pirates’ 14-game losing streak was rather evenly split across two seasons, losing six straight games to end 1954 and eight straight to begin 1955. And unlike other teams with split-season losing streaks, the Pirates were equally subpar in both seasons, winning 60 in ’54 and 66 in ’55. The Pirates’ 1955 season included an eleven-game losing streak just a few weeks after their 0-8 start, which gave the franchise record a run for its money.

Brewers: 14 games in 1994

It’s insignificant to have a 14-game losing streak during a strike-shortened season without playoffs because there were no consequences for losing that many games in a row. There was no playoffs or World Series trophy that the Brewers missed out on, and the season has an asterisk above it.

Rockies: 13 games in 1993

In 1993, the Rockies were a new team and didn’t know how to play in their stadium or use modern analytics, although they still don’t do any of those things today. The Rockies inevitably experienced some rough patches, such as a 5-21 stretch, a 13-game losing streak, and a 65-97 record. The Rockies’ prolific offense was more than nullified by their entire pitching staff posting a WAR of 1.1 and an abysmal 5.44 ERA. But at least they had the league’s batting champion, Andres Galarraga, who recorded a .370/.403/.602 line.

Padres: 13 games in 1994

The Padres had their longest franchise losing streak during the strike-shortened season, though they likely would have had a worse season had the strike not occurred, with the team being in full rebuild mode. Top-heavy rosters such as this Padres’ team are prone to extensive losing streaks, as talent was scarce outside of Tony Gwyn (.394/.454/.568) and Andy Ashby. The 13-game losing streak ended with a go-ahead two-run home run in the 8th inning by Phil Plantier to win a series finale against the Astros, 7-6.  

Giants: 13 games in 1944

The Giants began the 1944 season by winning the first five games, though the momentum didn’t last, as they were already out of the playoff conversation when they lost 13 consecutive games in August of that season. The Giants had a total team pitching WAR of -2.0, and three of their five starters had negative WARs, which is largely why they lost thirteen straight games.

Yankees: 13 games in 1913

1913 was the Yankees’ first season as the Yankees, instead of the New York Highlanders, and their season went about as well as the team’s time as the Highlanders. The Yankees had a 2-15 start to the season, coupled with a 13-game losing streak leading to a woeful 9-34 record in June that was too difficult to overcome.

Marlins: 11 games in 2011

The Marlins’ 31-22 record at the end of May deceived many into believing they were a playoff contender until Miami eventually fell back down to earth in typical Marlins fashion. The Marlins lost eight straight games and then 11 successive games and ten of those games were decided by one run, thus many of those losses could have been avoided had the Marlins scored just a handful of more runs. However, the most painful part was that the Marlins never really recovered from that losing stretch, as they failed to finish a season with a winning record for nine years.

Guardians: 12 games in 1931

The 1931 Guardians are quite the outlier, as they lost twelve consecutive games in a season and still finished with a winning record. The Guardians were astonishingly able to turn their season around after such a losing streak to post a 78-76 record, and they kept a losing record for most of the season until a seven-game win streak in September.

Blue Jays: 12 games in 1981

1981 was another strike-shortened season, although this strike occurred for 50 days in the middle of the season, creating a split-season format that included only 106 games. Considering that the Blue Jays lost the final eleven games of the first half, their losing streak would have likely been longer had the strike not occurred. However, 1981 was the first Blue Jays’ season without losing over 95 games, even though they were on pace to do so in 162 games.

Nationals: 12 games in 2008

Similarly to many other teams, the Nationals set their franchise record for longest losing streak within their first few seasons as an MLB team. Nevertheless, that record would have been broken this season had James Wood not hit a walk-off, two-run home run to end an eleven-game skid. The Nationals’ 12-game losing streak occurred later in the 2008 season when the team was out of playoff contention and didn’t have much to play for.