Ryan Sadowski, whose career-starting scoreless streak of 16 innings was snapped Wednesday by the Florida Marlins, is the longest by a Giant to begin a career since Al Worthington pitched 19 consecutive scoreless innings in 1953, when the team was in New York.

Old-school San Francisco fans might remember Worthington. He was on that first SF Giants team of 1958, and he had a decent season: 11-7 with six saves and an ERA of 3.63.

Interestingly, Worthington’s career didn’t blossom until he became a full-time relief pitcher, with the Cincinnati Reds in 1963. With the Twins from 1964 through 1969, he was in the vanguard of late-inning specialists (we call them closers today), earning 85 saves and leading the American League in that category in 1968, at age 39, with 18.

Worthington’s finest moments were probably for the Twins in their pennant-winning season of 1965, when he had 10 wins, 21 saves and ERA of 2.13. In the ‘65 World Series, he appeared in two games, pitching four innings without yielding a run to the Dodgers.