PITTSBURGH -- The Reds' bullpen was a disaster area last season, producing the second-worst ERA in Major League Baseball and setting a big league record for home runs allowed. But Monday at PNC Park, the Reds bullpen not only was perfect, it set a modern-day mark for the game's oldest existing franchise.
Paced by former starter Michael Lorenzen, who bailed the Reds out of a bases-loaded jam that threatened to disintegrate an early four-run lead, Cincinnati relievers retired 21 straight Pirates hitters over the last seven innings to preserve a 7-1 win.
According to Elias, no Reds team had done such a thing post-1900.