It’s been a long time since I saw a baseball game under two hours. Actually, I ‘m not sure I’ve ever seen a major-league game under two hours. But’s that what I witnessed in person on Saturday night at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Minnesota Twins, 2-1, in a game that lasted only 1 hour and 58 minutes. You read it correctly—that’s not a typo. And Greg Maddux didn’t pitch.

Here are the main factors that contributed to this unusual outcome.

There was only one walk.

There were only eight hits, including two home runs.

There was only a total of seven runners left on base.

There were no pitching changes in the middle of a half-inning.

There were only two mound visits by coaches.

Only six batters went to a full 3-and-2 count.

13 batters put the ball in play on the first pitch. Eight batters put the ball in play on the second pitch.

How does this game’s elapsed time compare with MLB averages?

In 2023, when the 20-second pitch clock was instituted, the length of MLB games dropped by an average of 30 minutes, to two hours and 40 minutes. Based on results so far in 2024, the average is projected to decrease by another five minutes.

The scoring in the game involved the only three extra-base hits of the game. Steven Kwan hit a leadoff home run in the first inning for the Guardians. Bo Naylor led off the Guardians’ sixth inning with a solo home run. In the bottom of the sixth, Minnesota’s Matt Wallner drove in Willi Castro, who had doubled.

The quickly-played game came as somewhat of a relief to the 31,000 fans who attended. That’s because an hour-long, mostly boring ceremony took place before the game, when the Minnesota Twins inducted two new members into their Hall of Fame. But it was a treat to see some of the former Twins greats, including Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, and Joe Mauer, honor new inductees Rick Stelmaszek and Terry Ryan.

The reference to Greg Maddux above is about his 1995 game in which he threw only 88 pitches in a complete-game victory against St. Louis that lasted only 1 hour 50 minutes.