Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2023/Milwaukee Brewers–Pittsburgh Pirates bottom of the 6th inning on August 3, 2023

On Wednesday, August 3, 2022, the bottom of the 6th inning was played between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Pittsburgh Pirates, both of the National League. Played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the inning in total featured six batters for the Pirates and two pitchers for the Brewers. Of the six batters, three advanced to the bases, all through hits. The Pirates were able to score two runs before the Brewers made a pitching change and ended the inning.

All of the Pirates' offense during this inning were given up by Brewers pitcher Jake McGee. McGee had struggled during this season, and those struggles had continued to this game. He was relieved after two outs by midseason acquisition Matt Bush, who retired Jason Delay for the final out of the inning. An error by right fielder Hunter Renfroe also contributed to the productive inning for the Pirates.

Summary


The bottom of the sixth began with the Brewers making a pitching change, replacing righthander Trevor Gott with lefthander Jake McGee, who had previously been with the San Francisco Giants at the start of the season before being released. The #4, #5, and #6 hitters for the Pirates were due up to bat (Ke'Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, and Bligh Madris, respectively). McGee, a fastballheavy pitcher, began the atbat by throwing three straight fastballs, one of them being a ball two of them being called strikes to result in a 1–2 count going into the fourth pitch. Hayes proceeded to foul off five straight pitches from McGee    before finally lining out to right fielder Hunter Renfroe on the ninth pitch of the atbat for the first out of the inning. Next up to bat was Cruz, a top prospect for the Pirates. McGee threw two straight fastball for called strikes before Cruz fouled off two straight pitches. After taking a ball on the fifth pitch of the atbat, he beat the shift and singled to right field for the first hit of the bottom of the 6th.

Before Madris was due up to bat, Pirates manager Derek Shelton opted to pinch hit Michael Chavis instead. Chavis, a righthanded batter, matched up better against McGee than Madris, a lefthanded batter. McGee threw two inside fastballs to make the count 2–0, then threw a fastball down the middle of the strike zone for strike one. He then threw another fastball down the middle, which Chavis hit down the right field line for a double. The ball deflected off of a wall in the infield and bounced sideways, forcing Renfroe to chase after the ball instead of waiting for it to come to him. Because of this, he also had to make a quick throw to third base in case Chavis were to go for a triple. His throw missed to the right and it went into the left field grass, forcing third baseman Luis Urías go after the ball. This allowed Cruz to score as he had been on third after the double, and it allowed Chavis to advance to the open third base.

Despite throwing 19 pitches already, McGee stayed in the game to face the next batter, Cal Mitchell. McGee once again started this atbat by throwing two straight fastballs for balls followed by a called strike. This time, however, he was able to even the count at 2–2 after throwing yet another fastball for a called strike. Mitchell swung and missed on the fifth pitch of the atbat, giving McGee his first and only strikeout of the inning. The fifth batter of the inning was Tucupita Marcano. McGee's first pitch was another fastball taken by Marcano for a called strike. On the 26th pitch and 12th straight fastball thrown by McGee, Marcano connected on it and singled to leftcenter field, scoring Chavis.

After allowing two runs and leaving Marcano on base, McGee was relieved with two outs by tradedeadline acquisition Matt Bush, a righthander. Bush had just been acquired by the Brewers three days before, and this was his first appearance for them. First up to the plate against Bush was #9 hitter Jason Delay. Bush threw two straight balls to Delay to make the count 2–0. Delay took a fastball for a called strike, then tipped a foul for another strike before swinging and missing on the fifth pitch of the atbat. However, Brewers catcher Omar Narváez lost control of the pitch after Delay's swing, forcing him to throw to first baseman Rowdy Tellez for the final out of the inning. With Bush's five straight fastballs, the Brewers combined threw 17 straight fastballs during the inning.

Box score
FIELDING
 * E: Renfroe, H (1, throw).



BATTING


 * Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Marcano, T 1.
 * Team RISP: 1-for-1.
 * Team LOB: 1.

Aftermath
The Pirates won with a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 9th by a score of 7 to 8.

One year after the creation of this article, the creator realized his mistake made in the title.

On June 4, 2024, Marcano was banned from baseball for life by Major League Baseball for betting on the Pirates several times during the 2022 season.