Northwest Passage
The Angels and Mariners started our late-night festival on Tuesday night with an 11-inning affair that was already (somehow) four hours long before Robinson Cano hit a two-out single in the bottom of the 9th to tie things at 4. The Mariners hadn't had a tying hit with two outs in the 9th since July 27, 2015 (Mike Zunino); that was actually the fourth-longest drought of such a thing in the majors (BAL, SF, TB).
Albert Pujols doubled home Mike Trout (who had walked on four pitches) in the 11th, then stole third himself and scored on a groundout. The last time Pujols stole any base other than second was July 7, 2013, and that was his only SB that year.
Ten days before that SB (June 27), Pujols also had the Angels' last go-ahead double in the top of an extra inning (i.e., not a walkoff) when he brought home J.B. Shuck in a game in Detroit.
Tuesday's game didn't even reach "#WeirdBaseball" status by lasting until midnight, but it did mark the second-latest finish so far this year (Anaheim's 13-inning game against Toronto ended at 12:45 am PT). Seattle had a later finish just 34 home games ago; in the August 9 contest last season, the aforementioned Mike Zunino hit a sacrifice-fly-off at one minute after midnight to beat the Tigers.
Three days later, as the Mariners' homestand moved into its series with Texas, they kept us up again with a 13-inning missed-opportunity-fest.
Despite 20 baserunners from the 5th through 12th innings, the teams combined to go 2-for-23 with men on, and kept us locked in a 1-1 AL West snoozefest until Rougned Odor finally homered in the 13th. He became the youngest player in Rangers (/Senators) history to go deep that late in a game, breaking by about 6½ months the mark of Oddibe McDowell from June 11, 1986. It was the Rangers' second 13-inning game already this season (also April 20 vs Royals), the third time in team history that they've played a pair of them within their first 30 contests (joining 1983 and 1963).
Guillermo Heredia grounded into a double play to end the game at 12:12 am, the latest finish in Seattle since September 18, 2012, when their 18-inning escapade with the Orioles ended at 12:54 am.
The Quotable Ernie Banks
Speaking of 18-inning escapades, let's get to the elephant in the room.
The Yankees and Cubs, already an interesting series from a historical standpoint, didn't seem to want it to end on Sunday night, engaging in an 18-inning marathon that would eventually set a major-league record for strikeouts in a game (48). Fifteen different pitchers (yes, all pitchers, no position players) took the mound and all of them recorded at least one strikeout, also the first game in history where that happened.
The Cubs' three-run rally in the 9th culminated with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of Anthony Rizzo by Aroldis Chapman. That was the first HBP to tie the game with two outs in the 9th since Pittsburgh's Joel Hanrahan plunked Todd Frazier of the Reds on September 23, 2011. The Cubs had not received one since July 12, 1979, when catcher Barry Foote was beaned by Doug Bair of Cincinnati, and the Yankees had never issued one as far back as full play-by-play is available (generally to around 1950).
The teams kept adding to the strikeout total, only combining for 12 baserunners in the first eight extra innings. Aaron Hicks and Chase Headley would both fan four times, the first Yankee teammates to do that in a win since Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neil on August 23, 1997. After Aaron Hicks was sacrified to third in the top of the 18th, Starlin Castro hit a grounder to short and Hicks beat the throw to the plate for an RBI fielder's choice with no out recorded (that's "FCX" as we score it here). Oddly, Castro had plated Hicks with the first run of the game 17 innings earlier; he would become the first player in major-league history to have 2 RBIs while also going 0-for-8 or worse. (Three did 0-for-7, including the aformentioned Tino Martinez in a 17-inning affair with Toronto in 2001.)
Headley, Didi Gregorius, and Austin Romine would join Castro in the 0-for-7-plus club, the first time in major-league history that a team had four players do that. And they won!
The Yankees then headed off to Cincinnati and won 10-4 on Monday night. They became the first team since the 2013 Athletics (April 29-30) to play 18 innings one day and score 10 runs the next, and the first to do it after traveling to a different city since the Rockies played an infamous 22-inning game in San Diego on April 17, 2008, then went to Houston and downed the Astros 11-5 the next night.
We Are Pham-Ily
(Don't blame me, blame the Braves' organist.)
Earlier on Sunday, Tommy Pham collected four hits and two homers as the Cardinals beat the Braves in 14 innings. His two-run shot was the third-latest (by inning) ever hit by a visiting player in Atlanta, after Benito Santiago's 16th-inning dinger for the Padres in 1988, and Adam LaRoche's 15th-inning version for the Nationals in 2013.
Pham's earlier homer had come all the way back in the top of the 3rd, making him just the second player in Cardinals history to homer 11 innings apart in the same game. Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize, who led the majors with 43 homers in 1940, went deep in the 2nd and 13th innings of a game at Crosley Field in Cincinnati on May 13 of that year.
Land Of Oaks
Oakland has a lot of areas that are, well, "interesting" after dark, but the most interesting this week may have been Alameda County Coliseum. Trailing 5-4 in Friday's game, Adam Rosales roped a single to left and Matt Joyce beat the play at the plate for the walkoff. The Athletics hadn't hit a walkoff single when trailing (i.e., the two-run variety) and down to their final out since Jose Canseco beat the Orioles with one on July 14, 1991.
Ryon Healy ended Sunday's game with the Athletics' first walkoff homer of the season, and the first one allowed by "K-Rod" (Francisco Rodriguez) since September 30, 2009 (to Justin Maxwell of the Nationals). Oakland has hit three walkoff homers agains the Tigers since the start of 2013; in both teams' cases, the most against any opponent over that span. It also marked the first time Oakland had consecutive walkoffs against the Tigers since June 2 and 3 of 2008.
And the Athletics weren't exactly done. On Monday night Jed Lowrie closed out the series opener against Anaheim with his first walkoff homer since August 21, 2010, giving Oakland its first string of three straight walkoffs since June 1-3, 2004. As of this writing, the Athletics have suddenly become the only team this season with two walk-off homers (in two days!), and that 2004 set was also their last time hitting one in back-to-back games. Bobby Kielty and Mark Kotsay upended the Twins (both in extra innings) in the first two games of that streak.
Lowrie's walkoff was his second home run of the game, having also gone yard to lead off the 4th. That made him just the second Oaklander ever to homer twice in a game, with the second one being an extra-inning walkoff. The other was Brandon Moss, whose 19th-inning dinger finally beat the Angels on April 29, 2013 (that's the same game mentioned above where Oakland scored 10 runs the next day). Oddly, two players-- Hector Lopez and Vic Power-- did it during the Athletics' 13 years in Kansas City, while Sam Chapman and Jimmie Foxx were the two who did it in Philadelphia.
Too Soon?
(Or, You Played 10 Innings And Barely Got A Mention)
Travis Shaw decided last Monday's game in favor of the Brewers with a three-run homer in the 10th inning, joining Prince Fielder (April 17, 2008) as the only Brewers to hit a multi-run homer in extra innings against the Cardinals.
Monday's final score was "only" 7-5, however, as Jedd Gyorko launched a solo homer in the bottom of the 10th. Gyorko had also led off B8 with a dinger with St. Louis trailing 4-2. And that made him the first player in Cardinals history (1882) to homer twice in the 8th inning or later, where neither homer at least tied the game.
Billy Hamilton hit his second double of the year to give the Reds a 10-inning, 4-3 walkoff against the Pirates on Monday. Doubles, of course, aren't what Hamilton is known for; he had stolen three bases (including two in one at-bat) earlier in the game before hitting the walkoff. He thus became the first player to do that (3 SB and a walkoff anything) since Kenny Lofton's homer in the 13th gave Cleveland a win over Baltimore on September 3, 2000. Hamilton was the first to do it for Cincinnati in (at least) the live-ball era.
Josh Harrison added a 10th-inning walkoff to our collection on Saturday with an RBI single to beat the Brewers 2-1. It was his seventh career walkoff hit; since his MLB debut on May 31, 2011, Harrison has more for the Pirates than any other player (Starling Marte has six and McCutchen five), and is tied for the most extra-inning walkoffs for any team. Josh Donaldson, Matt Kemp, Ian Kinsler, and Matt Wieters are the others to have five in extras over that span.
It's Too Early To Be This Late
(This sounds like it should be a Yogi Berra line, but we couldn't find it.)
Although they didn't keep us up very late because they were day games, two NL West games from last Sunday earned honorable mention in the walkoff category.
Wil Myers hit a 12th-inning home run to give the Padres a win at AT&T Park. That marked the second-latest dinger ever hit by San Diego in San Francisco, and the other was in their second year of existence. On May 23, 1970, Steve Huntz's solo shot in the 15th made the final score Padres 17, Giants 16. Because Candlestick Park.
Meanwhile, in the desert, the Rockies and Diamondbacks played 12½ scoreless innings before Brandon Drury led off with an infield single and then Daniel Descalso crushed a walkoff homer. It was the second time in Arizona history they had hit a walkoff anything to break a scoreless tie; the other was Chad Tracy's solo homer against the Royals on June 13, 2008 (1-0 in 10). Orlando Hudson hit the team's only other walkoff multi-run homer in the 12th or later; he defeated the Dodgers by a 9-7 score with a 15th-inning tater on August 25, 2006.
And Sunday's final score marked the longest game in Rockies history where they failed to score at least one run.
Bottom Of The Bag
Jay Bruce, Tuesday: Fourth player in Mets history to have 6 RBI in a loss. Mike Piazza 2002, Robin Ventura 1999, Frank Thomas 1962.
Red Sox, Saturday-Sunday: First time in franchise history with an 8-run inning (or more) in consecutive games.
Twins, Tuesday: First time in 50 years that the team hit six homers in a home game. Never did it at the Metrodome. Last was at Metropolitan Stadium on June 9, 1966 (vs Athletics).
Rangers, Tuesday: First time since moving from Washington that they hit five homers and lost. Franchise last did it on May 16, 1969.
Kris Bryant & Javier Baez, Tuesday: First Cubs teammates to each have a homer and a triple since George Altman and Billy Williams did it against the Cardinals on July 1, 1961.
Seth Smith, Thursday: First Oriole to have four hits and a steal of home plate since Don Baylor against the Tigers on September 20, 1973.
Yunel Escobar, Thursday: Fourth leadoff hitter in Angels history to have four hits but zero runs scored and zero driven in. Others were David Eckstein (2002), Rod Carew (1981), and Jose Cardenal (1967).
Wade Miley, Friday: First Orioles starter to leave game in 1st inning (hit by line drive) without allowing a run since Mike Flanagan twisted his knee fielding a grounder on May 17, 1983.
Cody Bellinger, Friday: Second career multi-homer game (also April 29); first player in Dodgers history to do it twice before turning 22 years old.
Cardinals, Friday: First double-digit shutout of Braves since May 20, 1985 (14-0). First one ever in Atlanta.
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