Last week was not very pleasant for anyone who enjoys watching the Brewers offense. For starters, the Brewers lost five games in a row from Tuesday through Sunday. What was worse is that between Jonathan Lucroy's RBI single in the fourth inning of Wednesday's game again the Cincinnati Reds and Corey Hart's two-run sixth inning home run on Sunday against the Houston Astros, the Brewers could not plate a single runner. The run of futility lasted twenty-eight innings, tied for the third-longest scoreless stretch in team history.
The 2010 Brewers are not unfamiliar with run-scoring droughts. From April 28 to May 1, the team went twenty-four innings without scoring. The two stretches of futility make 2010 only the fifth season in team history in which the team twice went at least twenty innings without scoring.
This latest twenty-eight inning goose egg was the Brewers' twenty-second scoreless stretch of at least twenty innings. Unless you are a glutton for punishment, you may want to look away before looking at the full list after the jump.
| Rank | Date | Innings | Opponents (Games) |
Streak-Breaking Batter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/9-9/11/1972 | 31 | @BAL (4) |
Rick Auerbach |
| 2 | 4/30-5/7/1972 | 30 | OAK (1), MIN (1), @CAL (3) |
Ron Theobold |
| 3 | 9/25-9/28/1974 | 28 | @CLE (1), @BAL (2) |
Pedro Garcia |
| 7/28-8/1/2010 | 28 | CIN (1), @HOU (3) |
Corey Hart |
|
| 5 | 8/5-8/9/1978* | 26 | BOS (2), @NYY (2)* |
Don Money* |
| 9/7-9/10/1991 | 26 | @CAL (2), CLE (1) |
Darryl Hamilton |
|
| 7 | 5/19-5/23/1972 | 25 | BAL (3), @DET (1) |
John Briggs |
| 4/29-5/2/1989* | 25 | @KCR (2), @CHW (2)* |
Robin Yount* |
|
| 8/5-8/9/1998* | 25 | STL (1), @CIN (3)* | Fernando Vina*† | |
| 8/13-8/16/1998 | 25 | @HOU (1), @SDP (3) |
Bob Hamelin |
|
| 7/20-7/23/2004* | 25 | @CIN (1), @STL (2), @HOU (1)* |
Scott Podsednik* |
|
| 12 | 4/12-4/14/1971 | 24 | OAK (2), @CHW (1) |
Tommy Harper |
| 4/28-5/1/2010 | 24 | PIT (1), SDP (3) |
Yovani Gallardo |
|
| 14 | 4/15-4/20/1981 | 23 | @CHW (1), CLE (2), @TOR (1) |
Ned Yost |
| 9/8-9/17/2001 | 23 | @HOU (2), STL (1), @STL (1) |
Henry Blanco |
|
| 16 | 5/28-5/31/1973 | 22 | CAL (1), MIN (3) |
Pedro Garcia |
| 8/6-8/8/1974 | 22 | BOS (4) |
Don Money |
|
| 7/26-7/29/2005 | 22 | ARI (2), SFG (2) |
Carlos Lee |
|
| 19 | 5/3-5/8/1987* | 21 | @SEA (1), CAL (2), SEA (1)* |
Dale Sveum* |
| 8/14-8/17/1999* | 21 | @ARI (2), @HOU (2)* | Mark Loretta* | |
| 21 | 4/26-4/28/1994 | 20 | @CHW (1), @MIN(2) |
Turner Ward |
| 6/30-7/3/1994* | 20 | TOR (1), @CHW (3)* |
Kevin Seitzer* |
* - run scored in first inning of final game listed
† - Vina scored on a throwing error during an attempted steal of 3rd base with Jeromy Burnitz at the plate
Two things jump out at me from the table. First, the middle of August 1998 must have been a very disheartening time. Second, the Brewers enjoy scoring first inning runs after being shut out.
With one more 20-inning scoreless streak, this year's Brewers will tie the 1972 squad for the most futile stretches in a single season. I would not be surprised to see the offense make a run, especially if they decide to completely mail it in come September.