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There were 22 runs to chose from in Tuesday night’s ugly Milwaukee Brewers shutout of the Seattle Mariners. The one that will be remembered is the one that Julio Rodriguez gave away.
The Brewers shut out the Mariners 22-0 with the Brewers scoring nine runs in the bottom of the eighth. One of those runs was just inexcusable, a second run that scored on Christian Yelich’s sacrifice fly. Milwaukee had already scored six runs in the inning when Yelich lifted a fly ball to center. Rodriguez camped under it, made the catch and then, apparently believing it was the third out, threw the ball into the stands.
It was just the second out.
He stood there shaking his head in disgust as the Brewers tagged on two more runs. Andrew Vaughn tagged up from third and scored on the sac fly, but Jonathan Ornelas, standing on second, was awarded home on Rodriguez’s “throwing error.”
It was the icing on what was the Mariners’ historic loss.
The final score ties the record for the largest shutout victory since the start of the 1888 season, matching Pittsburgh’s 22-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in 1975 and Cleveland’s dismantling of the Yankees on Aug. 31, 2004.
It was the worst loss in Seattle franchise history. The previous largest margin for a Mariners loss was 20 runs, a 21-1 loss at Houston in 2019.
The Mariners committed four errors, managed five hits and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Rodriguez went 0-for-4 at the plate.
The nine-run eighth inning belonged to Leo Rivas, an infielder pressed into mop-up duty, who gave up nine runs on nine hits while recording three outs. It included Luis Lara’s first career home run, a three-run drive that made it 16-0, and a bases-loaded walk.
Milwaukee catcher Gary Sanchez pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win.
Brewers vs. Mariners highlights
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