Have you ever been to a Little League game where some poor kid can’t find the strike zone and the other team knows it? The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds just gave us the major league version of that.
The Pirates tied an MLB record on Saturday by drawing walks in seven straight plate appearances, turning what was previously a 5-3 lead into a laugher. The two pitchers responsible: starter Rhett Lowder and reliever Connor Phillips.
The strike zone carnage came in the second inning, after the Pirates had already gone through their entire order in a five-run first inning. Leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz struck out looking, then the 2-8 batters in the Pittsburgh lineup all drew walks, with Phillips replacing Lowder after three walks, then walking in four runners himself.
The Pirates pulled Phillips after that and replaced him with Sam Moll, who didn’t walk Henry Davis, but did allow another run in on a fielder’s choice grounder from Henry Davis. Cruz then grounded out to end the inning, making him responsible for two of the three outs.
It was 10-3 Pirates at the end of the inning, with five runs scored on zero hits. Please enjoy a supercut of all seven walks, featuring a Pirates broadcast falling further into disbelief with each ball.
And if you’re curious what all of that looks like from a pitch perspective: ball, strike, ball, foul, ball, ball strike, foul, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, strike, ball, strike, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, strike, foul, ball, foul, ball, ball, ball.
Only two other teams have yielded seven straight walks in MLB history. The last one to do it is the Pirates, who did it against the Atlanta Braves in 1983 per Dan Zangrilli of 93.7 The Fan. The other team do it was the Chicago White Sox in 1909.
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