Blake Stein was a pretty forgettable major leaguer. He played five partial major league seasons as a member of the A's and Royals, posting a 5.41 ERA over 475.2 innings. He is, however, the co-holder of one somewhat interesting American League record, and on this day in 2001 the Brewers were complicit in it.
Our story starts in the bottom of the first, where Stein struck out Richie Sexson with two outs to end the inning. He went on to retire the side in order in the second, striking out Devon White, Ronnie Belliard and Luis Lopez. Then he did it again in the third, getting Henry Blanco, Jamey Wright and Alex Sanchez on strikes. When he fanned Mark Loretta to open the fourth, he became just the fourth American Leaguer to strike out eight straight batters. Geoff Jenkins was due up next and lined out. Richie Sexson followed him with a solo home run to tie the game at one.
Despite the fact that Stein struck them out 11 times, the Brewers still beat the Royals 5-2.
With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- Brevard County Manatee Kyle Heckathorn, who turns 23.
- 1972-73 Brewer Gary Ryerson, who turns 63.