The Cincinnati Reds pitching staff accomplished something Saturday that hadn’t been done in more than 40 years.
Two Reds pitchers walked seven consecutive Pittsburgh Pirates hitters in the second inning of a May 2 game at PNC Park, tying an MLB record and turning what was already a rough afternoon into a historically bad day.
Starter Rhett Lowder and reliever Connor Phillips combined to walk seven consecutive Pirates with one out in the second inning. That included issuing the final four walks with the bases loaded. Between them, they threw 42 pitches and only 11 for strikes, according to MLB.com.
Lowder struck out leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz and then it went off the rails from there.
Lowder issued the first three walks before being pulled for Phillips. He came in with the bases loaded and walked four in a row, each one forcing in a run. Reliever Sam Moll finally stopped the bleeding. Entering the game with the bases loaded, he got both catcher Henry Davis and Cruz, batting for the second time that inning, to ground out.
After that inning, the Pirates led 10-3.
The MLB record for consecutive walks had last been set on May 25, 1983, when the Pirates walked seven consecutive Atlanta Braves batters. One of the pitchers that day happened to be named Bob Walk. On April 27, 1994, the Seattle Mariners walked six in a row, hit a batter and then walked the next batter in a 12-2 loss to the Yankees.
The Reds entered play Saturday having walked 11.6% of batters they faced this season, which was the fifth highest in baseball. Saturday, they showed just how much they struggle with the strike zone.
Lowder, 24, came in 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA, which ballooned to 5.09 after that inning. Phillips had been one of the more reliable arms in Cincinnati’s bullpen before Saturday’s outing. He had walked just 15 in 17 appearances before Saturday.
