Red Sox Played Shortest MLB Game In Almost 15 Years Tonight

BOSTON, MA – MAY 4: A general view inside Fenway Park before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles on May 4, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Cleveland Guardians 2-0 on Wednesday evening, and they didn’t stick around for long.

The game was played at a brisk pace, with the final out being recorded after just one hour and 49 minutes.

It’s the shortest game in Major League Baseball in nearly 15 years.

The last game to end so quickly was a matchup between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland on June 2, 2010.

That day, Armando Galarraga recorded 26 perfect outs before an incorrect call from umpire Jim Joyce ended his bid for a perfect game.

Tonight’s game featured another great pitching performance, as Boston’s Tanner Houck pitched a complete game shutout against the Guardians. Houck struck out nine batters while allowing only three hits on the evening.

Kolten Wong provided an offensive spark with a solo home run, and Pablo Reyes scored the game’s only other run on a balk.

The game comes in at one minute shorter than last season’s fastest game, when the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals finished nine innings in one hour and 50 minutes last September.

The 15-second pitch clock, introduced with the 2023 season, has drastically reduced game times around the league.

On average, games finished at around two hours and 40 minutes last season. That’s down nearly a half hour from the 2022 season and nearly 40 minutes from the 2021 season.

The 2:40 average in 2023 was the first time in nearly four decades that the average time of an MLB game was under three hours.

Major League Baseball has been looking for ways to keep fans invested and engaged, and the pitch clock appears to be a major success on that front.

We’ll see if any other games fall under the two hour threshold this season.