MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds ended a 35-inning scoreless streak on Friday night when Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to drive in TJ Friedl in a 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Jeimer Candelario followed with an RBI double.
The 35-inning scoreless streak is tied for the fourth most in team history, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The record is 45 innings in 1941.
The last time the Reds had at least 35 consecutive scoreless innings was from Sept. 8 to Sept. 12, 1946 when they went 37 innings without a run, according to Sportradar,
The major league record for consecutive scoreless innings is 48, by the Chicago Cubs from June 15 to June 21, 1968 and the Philadelphia Athletics from Sept. 22 to Sept. 26, 1906.
The Reds had lost three consecutive 1-0 three games had not happened since May 1960 when the Philadelphia Phillies did it.
Cincinnati appeared to be in danger of a fourth consecutive shutout, especially after being held without a hit through six innings against the Brewers before Gavin Lux hit a seventh-inning single.
The last team to get shut out in four consecutive games was the Kansas City Royals from Aug. 25 to Aug. 28, 2017.
The Reds played Friday night’s game without first-year manager Terry Francona and several players who were sent back to the team hotel sick, although most key players were in the lineup. Bench coach Freddie Benavides took over managing duties.
“We’re not really sure what the sickness is so we sent some staff members to the hotel, some players as well. Hopefully they’re going to be better tomorrow,” president of baseball operations Nick Krall said before the game.
Krall said source of the illness remains unclear.
Losing three straight 1-0 games has only occurred six times in MLB history, and four of those instances were over a century ago. Nobody has ever lost 1-0 in four straight games. The last time the Reds were shut out in four straight was in 1931.
The other teams to lose 1-0 in three consecutive games were the Brooklyn Superbas in 1908, the St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators in 1909 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1917.
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