Twins put together early contender for worst inning of 2019, allow seven straight Mets to reach base without a hit
The fifth inning included six walks, a hit batsmen, and six runs
By
Mike Axisa
•
1 min read
The 2019 season is only two weeks old and we already have a strong contender for the worst inning of the year, courtesy of the Minnesota Twins.
Wednesday night at Citi Field (GameTracker), three Twins pitchers combined to allow seven consecutive Mets hitters to reach base without a hit in the fifth inning. Without putting a ball in play, in fact. Jake Odorizzi started the inning with a no-hitter intact. Things unraveled from there.
Here is the play log of that fifth inning:
- Wilson Ramos: Ground out
- Jeff McNeil: Single to center to break up the no-hitter
- Amed Rosario: Six-pitch walk
- J.D. Davis: Six-pitch walk (McNeil thrown out at home on wild pitch)
- Noah Syndergaard: Six-pitch walk (Odorizzi replaced by Andrew Vasquez)
- Brandon Nimmo: Hit-by-pitch to force in a run
- Pete Alonso: Six-pitch walk to force in a run
- Robinson Cano: Four-pitch walk to force in a run (Vasquez replaced by Trevor Hildenberger)
- Michael Conforto: Four-pitch walk to force in a run
- Wilson Ramos: Single to right to score two runs
- Jeff McNeil: Strikeout to end the inning
Eleven batters, nine baserunners, four balls in play, six runs. Golly. The three Twins pitchers combined to throw 47 pitches and only 18 strikes. Vasquez faced three batters, all with the bases loaded, and walked two and plunked the other. Brutal. Just brutal. Here are his pitch locations:
Not even close. Those were easy takes for the Mets.
The Twins and Odorizzi went into that fifth inning with a no-hitter intact and a 1-0 lead. By time the fifth inning ended, they trailed 6-1 and had used three different pitchers. Things really escalated there.
I have seen an embarrassing amount of baseball in my lifetime. I don't ever remember seeing seven -- seven! -- consecutive batters reach base without putting a ball in play. What an ugly inning for the Twins, and hey, give the Mets and their hitters credit for sitting back and letting Minnesota's pitchers make their mess.
