The Milwaukee Brewers made baseball history on Tuesday night with a huge 22-0 win over the Seattle Mariners.
The win matched the modern-era record for the biggest shutout in Major League Baseball. It was also the Brewers’ biggest shutout win in 139 years of baseball history.
Milwaukee entered the game with the best record in the major leagues. The win improved the Brewers to 78-48.
The 22-run total also matched the franchise record for most runs in one game.
The only larger shutout in MLB history came in 1887. On 28 June that year, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Indianapolis Hoosiers 24-0.
Since the start of the modern era in 1901, only two other teams had won a game by 22-0.
The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 22-0 on 16 September 1975. The Cleveland team then matched the score against the New York Yankees on 31 August 2004.
Milwaukee’s huge win was built on strong hitting from the start.
Jake Bauers scored the first Brewers run in the first inning. With two outs, Bauers hit a double against Seattle starter Bryce Miller.
William Contreras then hit a single. Seattle left fielder Randy Arozarena threw the ball toward home plate. The throw appeared strong enough to beat Bauers.
But the play took an unexpected turn. Bauers tried to reach the plate and slapped at catcher Cal Raleigh’s glove. Raleigh dropped the ball, allowing Bauers to score.
Milwaukee continued to add runs as the game went on.
Christian Yelich hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning. His shot increased the Brewers’ lead to 6-0.
David Hamilton then hit another three-run homer in the sixth. That made the score 9-0.
Bauers followed with his second homer of the game later in the sixth inning. His 22nd home run of the season pushed Milwaukee’s lead to 11-0.
The Brewers saved their biggest attack for the eighth inning.
Milwaukee scored nine runs in the inning against Seattle infielder Leo Rivas. Luis Lara capped the rally with a three-run home run.
The homer was special for Lara. It was the first home run of his major league career.
The Brewers also received a strong effort from their pitchers.
Kyle Harrison earned the win and improved to 10-3. He allowed only two hits in five scoreless innings.
Harrison’s performance came after a difficult previous start. He had allowed eight runs, including three earned runs, over 4 2/3 innings in his last game.
Shane Drohan followed Harrison with two scoreless innings. Grant Anderson then worked the eighth.
Brewers catcher Gary Sánchez finished the game on the mound. He allowed two hits in the ninth but kept Seattle from scoring.
Sánchez used several slow pitches during the final inning. Some of his pitches traveled at less than 40 mph.
Milwaukee’s hitters also produced several standout performances.
Hamilton drove in four runs, the most RBIs in a game in his career. Yelich also finished with four RBIs.
Lara matched them with four RBIs in his first career home run game.
Garrett Mitchell led Milwaukee with four hits.
The Mariners never found a way to score. Their five hits were spread across the game, while Milwaukee’s pitching staff kept the home team under control.
The result gave the Brewers another major mark in a strong season.
At 78-48, Milwaukee remains one of the top teams in baseball. The 22-0 victory also placed the Brewers alongside two modern-era teams that had already reached the same historic score.
For one night, however, Milwaukee did more than win. The Brewers joined a very short list of teams to record baseball’s largest modern-era shutout victory.
