The Milwaukee Brewers avoided a sweep against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, winning the last game of the four-game series between the two teams 7-5. In the later stages, Giants color commentator, Shawn Estes, provided a humorous misread of a stat, which his partner, play-by-play man Dave Flemming, called out.
One of Milwaukee’s strengths is its bullpen, led by closer Devin Williams. Going into Sunday’s game, Williams had been pretty close to unhittable on the season, posting a 0.59 ERA and 0.848 WHIP while striking out 19 hitters in 15.1 innings. That continued on Sunday, as Williams locked down a four-out save, walking one batter and striking out three.
While the Giants had climbed back from 7-0 to 7-5 by the bottom of the seventh inning, Estes knew that finishing the comeback would be tough. “There’s a reason why the Brewers this year are 45-1 when they’re leading after seven innings. That back end of the bullpen has been really good for them.”
Flemming called the next pitch, a ball outside from Giants pitcher Tristan Beck, before fact-checking his partner. “What did you say the record was?” Flemming asked.
Estes confidently replied “45-1.”
At that point, Flemming made a correction. “But not this year. They haven’t won 45 games yet.”
Realizing the mistake, Estes quipped, “Yeah, well it’s probably not 45 then.” Indeed, at the time of the comment, both the Brewers and Giants sat at 27-25 on the season.
The two then laughed, which led to Estes joking “They’re that good after the seventh that they’ve actually won more games than they’ve played.”
He then clarified that the Brewers were 22-1, with Flemming saying “Maybe if you go back into last year.”
Shawn Estes: "There's a reason why the Brewers this year are 45-1 when they're leading after 7 innings.
Dave Flemming: "What did you say the record was?"
Estes: "45-1."
Flemming: "But not this year. They haven't won 45 games yet."
Estes: "Yeah, well it's probably not 45 then." pic.twitter.com/fBnLpvP0d8— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 28, 2023
To their credit, both Flemming and Estes quickly found the humor of the situation. Broadcast partners will occasionally awkwardly cover for each other in situations like this. So, it was refreshing to see these two work their way through the gaffe.
And Milwaukee’s record when leading after seven innings is now 46-1 — or 23-1 — depending on which stats you believe.
