Also, as an FYI I found 52 instances of intentional walks with 0 outs in the first four innings going back to 2001 using baseball references play index. The vast majority with guys on 2nd & 3rd and a pretty good hitter up. Strangely (IMO), in 49 of those instances the fielding team was either ahead or tied.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...=1&submitter=1
This is obviously very rare, but it happens.