Recent MLB Scorigamis and Football Scores in MLB Games
The Atlanta Braves' historic 29-9 defeat of the Miami Marlins
in September 2020 was the first Scorigami in MLB since 1999. MLB fans
did not have to wait so long for the next Scorigami as the following year, the San Diego Padres
tripled up the Washington Nationals 24-8. It was the first 24-8 score in MLB history.
Many sports observers recognized that 29-9 and 24-8 seemed more like NFL scores than MLB scores. The 29-9 score has happened twice in NFL
history: the Minnesota Vikings defeated the New Orleans Saints 29-9 in 1974
and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns by the same score in
a '95 playoff game. While the Browns/Steelers first-round playoff game in 1995 was not a NFL Scorigami (since the score also happened in 1974),
the most recent Browns/Steelers first-round playoff game was a Scorigami.
The 24-8 score is an NFL Scorigami: the Houston Oilers defeated the Detroit Lions 24-8
for the only 24-8 game in NFL history.
It would have been more poetic if the one of the two 29-9 NFL scores had been between the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins and if the 24-8 score in 1975
had been between the San Diego Chargers (now the Los Angeles Chargers) and the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders). In the same month as the
Padres' massive win over the Nationals,
the Detroit
Tigers defeated the Minnesota Twins 17-14. The 17-14 score has happened a
whopping 200 times in NFL history (as of December 2023), yet the Detroit Lions
have never defeated the Minnesota Vikings 17-14 (even though they have played
each other over 100 times).
Last year, there was an instance of an MLB score matching an NFL score involving teams from the same two cities. The cities were Cleveland and Oakland.
On May 1, the Cleveland Guardians scored seven runs in the first eight innings before
the Oakland A's scored three runs in the last inning to make it a 7-3 final score. The loss occurred at
the lowly regarded Oakland Coliseum, which is where the
Cleveland Browns beat the Oakland Raiders in 1973. In that game, the Browns
scored seven points in the first three quarters before the Raiders scored three points in the last quarter to make it a 7-3 final score. This is as close to
an MLB game mirroring an NFL game between the same two cities (in the exact same stadium) as I have ever seen.