The Chicago Cubs received six bases-loaded walks in the fifth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, marking the most by a major league team in a single inning in 65 years.
The last time a team drew that many free passes with runners at every base in one inning was the Chicago White Sox, who had eight in the seventh inning on April 22, 1959, according to Major League Baseball.
The inning started with Pirates rookie Paul Skenes making his debut and giving up two hits before being replaced. The Cubs needed three more pitchers to get through the frame, which included a 2-hour, 20-minute rain delay.
Kyle Nicolas replaced Skenes, struck out two batters, and hit Ian Happ with a pitch. Then the situation worsened.
Nicolas threw 12 straight pitches outside the strike zone to Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch, and Miles Mastrobuoni, resulting in three runs. Then Josh Fleming entered the game and walked Yan Gomes on five pitches before giving up an infield single to Mike Tauchman.
Fleming was substituted for Colin Holderman, who walked Seiya Suzuki on four pitches and Cody Bellinger on five, giving Chicago, which was trailing 6-1 entering the inning, an 8-6 lead. Holderman retired pinch-hitter Nick Madrigal on a liner to end the inning.
The Pirates threw 55 pitches in the inning, with only 20 being strikes. They regained the lead on Yasmani Grandal’s 3-run homer in the bottom half and held on to win 10-9.
