Giants hit 4 Reds batters in 6th inning, tie MLB record from 1893

The last time a team's pitching staff had an inning as bad as the San Francisco Giants did Monday, it happened in a ballpark made entirely of wood.

During their matinee in Cincinnati, the Giants hit four Reds batters in the sixth inning. The performance tied the major-league record for HBPs in a single inning, a mark set by the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Boston Beaneaters on Aug. 19, 1893, according to The Athletic's C. Trent Rosecrans.

Pat Venditte was responsible for three of the Giants' four HBPs, including two issued to consecutive hitters. Venditte, the majors' first full-time switch-pitcher since the 19th century, issued HBPs with both arms before Sam Dyson plunked Joey Votto to tie the record. Two of the four HBPs came with the bases loaded, and all of the Reds' runs were charged to Venditte.

The Giants' hit parade (of sorts) continued in the eighth when Pablo Sandoval - brought in to pitch for the second time in his career - started his inning on the mound by hitting a fifth Reds batter. That HBP set a new Reds franchise record for hit batsmen in a single game and tied the modern-era National League record of five, a milestone reached five times in the Senior Circuit since 1900, according to the Reds.

San Francisco hit five batters in a game for the first time since at least 1908, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Giants narrowly avoided matching the overall single-game record of six HBPs - a mark reached only twice in MLB history, according to Baseball Almanac.

Cincinnati took advantage of the Giants' wild sixth, scoring five times in the inning en route to a 12-4 win.