The pitch clock has certainly done a lot to speed up the pace of Major League Baseball games over the last 2 seasons but Friday at Wrigley Field was something else entirely.

The Cubs beat the Reds 1-0 in a game that took just 1 hour and 48 minutes to play.

“That was quick,” Cubs starter Jameson Taillon said. “That was nice. Hit it into the wind – good luck.”

[How wind played a factor in Cubs’ win over Reds]

That’s the fastest 9-inning game the Cubs have played since May 24, 2001:

The starting lineups from that game 23 years ago are a sight to behold.

The current Colorado head football coach was leading off for the Reds and the current radio analyst on 670 The Score broadcasts was hitting cleanup for the Cubs:

In the last 20 years, only 4 games across MLB have been played at a crisper pace:

June 2, 2010: Indians vs. Tigers (1:44)
April 25, 2007: A’s vs. Mariners (1:47)
May 10, 2005: Blue Jays vs. Royals (1:44)
April 16, 2005: White Sox vs. Mariners (1:45)

The 2010 Tigers contest was better known for Armando Galarraga’s near perfect game.

A big part of Friday’s game at Wrigley Field was the wind howling in, making it nearly impossible for anybody to hit it out of the ballpark.

The wind was blowing straight in from the outfield at 22 mph at first pitch with gusts that were even stronger.

[WATCH: Looking ahead to potential free agent targets for Cubs]

It also helped that the starting pitchers for both sides – Taillon and Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez – throw a lot of strikes and allowed their defense to work behind them.

“It was a quick one, for sure,” Craig Counsell said. “It was kind of amazing how it was going for a little while there. It was two starters on the mound that are both very, very good strike-throwers.

“The ball is in the air a lot [with both] and the ball in the air today was no good. Nothing was going to happen with the ball in the air, so it was the right matchup.”

Taillon tossed 7 shutout innings, ending his season on a high note. He will finish with a 12-8 record, a 3.27 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.

In September, he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball:

On Friday, Taillon pitched to the conditions, inducing 9 flyouts while needing only 89 pitches to get through 7 innings.

[WATCH: Analyzing Taillon’s 7 shutout innings]

“I definitely think you’d be crazy not to [pitch to the conditions] a little bit,” Taillon said. “You don’t want to let it change completely what you’re trying to do but maybe if I’m throwing a backdoor cutter to a lefty, I’d rather miss a little over the plate and up because it’s gonna be hard for a lefty to hit it out to left on a day like today.

“So try to cut bigger parts of the plate, not be afraid of contact a little bit. I had that conversation just in my own head after I walked a couple early. It’s like, let them hit it to the big parts.”