Jun 7, 2022; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader (71) runs onto the field during the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
MLBBy Michael Dixon on

When Josh Hader entered Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, he was three outs away from a Major League Baseball record. The Phillies had other ideas.

Hader’s scoreless inning on Sunday tied the all-time record for consecutive scoreless outings, previously held by Ryan Pressly. He had also thrown 38 straight scoreless innings in the regular season, well over halfway to Orel Hershiser’s record of 59.

So, Hader entered the game hoping to not only close a victory out for the Milwaukee Brewers, but also to pass Pressly for first all-time on the consecutive scoreless innings list and get an inning closer to Hershiser’s legendary mark. None of it happened.

Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm led the ninth inning off against Hader and went deep on the third pitch of his at-bat, tying the game in the process.

Two hitters later, Matt Vierling followed Bohm’s leading, launching a pinch-hit home run to put the Phillies up 3-2.

Obviously, whether one was happy or upset to see this depended largely on who that person was cheering for. One common emotion, though, was shock. This was not expected and baseball fans reacted to the surprise.

Making matters even worse for the Brewers is that, while they loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning, they couldn’t get the tying run across. One of their former closers, Corey Knebel, struck out Pablo Reyes to end the game.

While Hader’s streaks came to an end, another streak stayed alive. The one was the fifth in a row for the Phillies — and not the first to come in dramatic fashion. Whether it’s causal or not can be debated, but Philadelphia seems to be responding well to its recent managerial change.

[Philadelphia Phillies]

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