Duck! Reds pitchers Lowder, Phillips tie unfortunate MLB record
· Yahoo Sports
PITTSBURGH – BBBBBBBBBBBBBB.
If that was a word, that would sum up the outputs of Cincinnati Reds pitchers Rhett Lowder and Connor Phillips Saturday in Pittsburgh on a day they made ignominious rare MLB history.
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Lowder, the Reds starter (three) and reliever Phillips (four) combined to walk seven consecutive Pirates batters in a five-run second inning. Phillips, who only faced the four batters, walked his first and third batters faced on four pitches each. Lowder walked his last on four.
It's the third time in MLB history that a team drew seven consecutive walks in a big-league game – first since a season in which Bob Walk actually pitched for one of the teams involved, 43 years ago.
"Never seen that before," said one longtime press box wag. "You never know what you're gonna see at the ballpark when you wake up in the morning."
What anyone at PNC Park saw in that second was something that hadn't been done since the 1983 Pirates walked seven straight Braves on May 25 in Atlanta.
Strangely, the ugly skein wrong-way pitching followed a Lowder strikeout of Oneil Cruz to start the inning (albeit, after Lowder gave up five in a nine-batter first inning).
The last time Reds pitchers walked seven batters in an inning non-consecutively was April 17, 2014 against Philadelphia.
Saturday's streak mercifully came to an end when Sam Moll, after replacing Phillips, induced a routine double-play ground to third.
Which didn't result in a double play because catcher Henry Davis beat the relay throw to first, driving in another run. Which meant it was 10-3 with the top of the order coming up and seven innings to play.
It marked the first time since April 27, 1994 (Mariners vs. Yankees) that a team allowed at least five runs in an inning without giving up a hit.
Which was just the kind of day it was for the Reds – who stared at the likelihood of losing their 17-day hold on first place in the National League Central.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Duck! Reds pitchers Lowder, Phillips tie unfortunate MLB record