You may know 2-1-1 as the phone number to access local support services like housing, addiction treatment, and disaster assistance. (Some big cities also have 311 for non-emergency things like roadkill and noise complaints, but it's not universal.) On Monday night, even us baseball night owls needed some support (thanks, Twitter!) when the Giants decided to start their game, between raindrops, at 7:57 pm and the umpires decided to stop it at 7:58.
It's also not the first time this has happened recently. The Nationals and Padres (May 14, 2015) were the last to have a rain delay after one batter, and Reds at Orioles (September 2, 2014) had both a pregame rain delay and another stoppage during the second batter of the game. The Pirates a few years ago had a game delayed twice in the 1st inning.
But the real weirdness started when, instead of wiping out Curtis Granderson's strikeout and just playing two the next day, the Giants waited nearly three more hours.
Just as the last other game in the majors (Arizona) ended at 10:20 pm, we got this, blaming the nebulous "MLB officials" because it was the last Giants/Dodgers series of the year.
Chris Stratton, whom we would not blame were he home and asleep by this point, wasn't about to return after a 3-hour delay, and thus became the first Giants starter to face exactly one batter since Trevor Wilson against the Cubs on August 12, 1995. Wilson, coming off shoulder surgery the season before, re-strained his "left posterior rotator cuff" and took himself out after only four pitches. On the up side, Bruce Bochy was able to sub in lefty Ty Blach and force the Dodgers to go to their bench, reminiscent of a famous Padres trick in 1971.
It appeared we were already destined for the latest finish in San Francisco baseball history, which had been 1:25 am on June 21 (actually 22), 1983. That was a 16-inning loss to the Reds in which the teams traded runs in the 14th. (Hold that thought, Red Sox fans.) Since AT&T Park opened, its latest clock time had been 1:10 am on May 29 (30), 2001, a game that was scoreless through 17 innings before Erubiel Durazo gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 win. There hasn't been a longer 1-0 game in the majors since then.
Thanks to a bunch of pitching changes in the 4th and 5th innings, the game didn't become official until Denard Span singled in the go-ahead run at 12:36 am. The bad news is that the last BART train to the East Bay had already left four minutes before that. (We road-trippers do appreciate New York and Chicago for having 24-hour subways.)
Now remember, these are all Pacific times. On the East Coast it's already nearing 4 am. The latest finish in MLB history, in local time, still belongs to the Phillies, who finished a rain-delayed doubleheader at 4:40 am on July 2 (3), 1993. The famous Rick Camp Game in Atlanta on July 4, 1985, ended at 3:55 (and they famously shot off the Independence Day fireworks at 4:15), but again, that's Eastern Time. We know we're blowing through the San Francisco record at this point, but what about "ever"?
Happily, we don't have to worry about really old history since there weren't any lights. And the American League had a curfew for many years, even with the lights. Extensive research on this topic has been done by Phil Lowry of SABR, whose first major-league game in 1963 was a doubleheader that had rain delays and extra innings and ended at 2:30 am. That led him to a lifetime of research and an entire book on the subject which we reference often. And we have our own compilation of all the data since the book came out.
Our "favorite" from recent years has been the Cardinals game from May 30, 2013, in which the Royals took the lead in the top of the 9th, the umpires did not want to call the game and have it revert back without allowing the Cardinals to bat, so they waited over 4½ hours. It took about 9 minutes to play the bottom of the 9th, finally ending at 3:14 am. (We always remember it as "314 in the 314, since that's the original St. Louis area code. The same weather system hit Cleveland the next day and rain-delayed the end of their game until 2:53.)
The Padres had a game in 2011 with four rain delays before it was finally suspended at 1:38 am. That's 4:38 Eastern. But only one other game in MLB history has made it past 5 am Eastern Time, and that was also in San Diego. On September 24 (25), 1971, the Padres had a doubleheader with the Astros and the first game went 21 innings before being won on a balk. Padres starter Clay Kirby threw 232 pitches over 15 frames. The second game started at midnight, was delayed briefly by "morning fog", and when it had cleared just enough to resume, Jim Wynn immediately lost the first ball in the fog for a walkoff win. The official end time on that one was 2:29 am.
Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, the teams were scaring us with a 6-6 tie before Hunter Pence's RBI single gave the Giants the lead in the 6th and Buster Posey added an insurance run in the 7th. But it still took nearly 3½ hours of just playing time. And having lost their previous 10 games, the Dodgers gave us the handy mnemonic "L11 at 2:11"-- breaking the San Francisco mark by 46 minutes and missing the adjusted major-league one by 18.
With the game ending at 2:11, and it being about a 15-minute walk to The Embarcadero, the next BART train is in roughly an hour and 45 minutes.
And hey, unlike St. Louis, at least we didn't make it to San Francisco's original area code... which was 415.
For Cleveland, Press 22
Cleveland has been making a bunch of sports history the last few years, and for once it's the good kind. (Years ago we attended a tongue-in-cheek "Salute To Cleveland Sports" theme day at the Lake County (Ohio) Captains, and they reenacted a bunch of "historic moments" with the ending changed and their team actually winning.) So it was that the Indians started the week already in a tie for the longest winning streak in Cleveland pro sports history, matching the 18 wins from the NFL's Browns at the end of 1947 and through their undefeated 1948 campaign.
Win number 19 was an 11-0 shutout of the Tigers on Monday, their biggest against Detroit since May 29, 1954. (That season turned out, well, not ideal, but pretty good.) It was also their fourth double-digit shutout of the season, tying the Indians' record for a single season. The other time they had four such wins? 1902!
Win number 20 was another shutout of the Tigers, although this time only by a 2-0 count. The Indians hadn't blanked Detroit by any score in consecutive games of the same series since June 22 and 23, 1968 (Luis Tiant pitched the latter game), but once again, the Tigers made out okay that season.
Corey Kluber pitched his own shutout on Tuesday, striking out eight and walking zero. No Clevelander had thrown such a game since... Corey Kluber against the Orioles on June 19. That made him the Indians' first pitcher in (at least) the live-ball era with a pair of 0-BB, 8-K individual shutouts in the same season.
And of course, history (with an asterisk?) was made on Thursday when the Indians rallied for a tying double in the 9th and Jay Bruce walked it off in the 10th. Jose Ramirez, who scored that winning run, doubled to lead off the inning, his 50th two-bagger of the year. His is the first 50-double season by a Clevelander since Grady Sizemore in 2006. Only one other Indians hitter (Albert Belle in 1995) had done it since World War II. Ramirez's 13 games this season with multiple extra-base hits (he also doubled in the 8th) are the most since Sizemore in 2008.
Much has been made of the 1916 Giants and their streak of 27 games without a loss. But that was two mini-streaks of 12 wins, a tie, and then 14 more wins. In those days before lights and tarps and finishes at 2:11 am, most teams would have several ties per season; the statistics from those games all counted, but the game would be replayed later in the season such that each team still ended up with 154 decisions. Those 1916 Giants actually played 155 games, ending up 86-66-3 with two of the games not replayed (a tie with Boston during the final series, and a rainout with Cincinnati in their final scheduled game).
The practice of replaying the ties actually held until 2007 when MLB revised the rules about suspended games; instead of throwing out the 5+ innings that have already been played, the game just gets continued prior to the next scheduled game between the teams. The only remaining exception is for the final game of a season between two teams; this is actually what happened last year between the Cubs and Pirates. And as it relates to the winning streak, and whether a tie game "exists" or not?, well, Pittsburgh did not issue refunds last fall, nor free tickets to a non-existent makeup game, because five innings had been played and thus "the game counts". That's good enough for us. Follow the money. Congratulations Cleveland. :)
And by the way, those 1948 Browns? They tied their first game of 1949 and then won four more. So what's their streak?
For Chicago, Press 17
In a week that brought us a whole lot of low-scoring, uninteresting games (looking at you, AL West), the Mets were kind enough to give up 17 runs to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, including a 7-run 8th to make the score look even more ridiculous. That was after Joe Maddon had already cleared the September bench, and it meant that Albert Almora hit a 3-run homer in the 7th and then a bases-loaded triple in that unnecessary bottom of the 8th. That made him the first player (for any team) with a homer, a triple, and 6 RBI at Wrigley Field since Sammy Sosa did it against the Padres on May 16, 1997. And since RBI became official in 1920, only one other Cubs player recorded six of them in a game he didn't start. On August 26, 1925, Mandy Brooks replaced CF Tommy Griffith in the 3rd inning of a game against the Phillies and went 2-for-5 with a grand slam in a 19-10 slugfest. (We could find no info on why Griffith left the game, but the 35-year-old started just two more games after that and retired at the end of the season.)
Elsewhere in Wednesday's box score, Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant combined for five hits, four walks, and eight runs scored, setting another Wrigley Field first. Only twice before since 1913 had the Cubs' number-one and -two hitters both reached base four times and scored four times in the same game, and the others were both on the road-- and both against the Braves, as it turns out. Tom Goodwin and Mark Grudzielanek did it in Atlanta on July 21, 2003; and Stan Hack and Don Johnson turned the trick in Boston on July 3, 1945.
Down at the bottom of the box we find Javier Baez, who also chipped in four hits and three runs scored. From the "fun with future managers" file, the last Cub to do that batting either 8th or 9th was Joe Girardi at San Diego on August 4, 2000. And the last 8 or 9 to do it at Wrigley Field was Larry Bowa, also against the Mets, on September 25, 1983.
Apparently the White Sox, who had a day game in Detroit on Thursday, saw last night's Cubs score in the morning paper and said, hold my beer. They piled up 17 runs on 25 hits, and Ian Kinsler's homer in the bottom of the 9th destroyed our chance at having 17-5 scores on back-to-back days for the first time ever. However, the 17-7 final was the exact opposite of the White Sox' 17-7 loss at Texas on August 19; they are only the second team in history to be on both sides of that exact score in the same season. The other was "only" the 1889 Louisville (Ky.) Colonels.
22-year-old Yoan Moncada is the first line to catch your eye; he collected four hits and scored five of those 17 runs. The last White Sock to post that line, at any age, was Tim Raines at Fenway Park on April 18, 1994. And throwing out the four hits for the moment, Moncada became the second-youngest player in the live-ball era to score five runs in a game. Garry Templeton of the Cardinals did it on April 27, 1977, about a month after turning 21.
At the risk of burying the lead, scroll down to Avisail Garcia's line. That would be "only" 5-for-5 with seven RBIs (and not even a grand slam involved). Carl Reynolds, at the Yankees, on July 2, 1930, is the only other player in Sox history to post such a line, but oddly Garcia is already the fourth to do it in the majors this season. Anthony Rendon, Scooter Gennett (the 4-HR game), and Nolan Arenado also had 5-hit, 7-RBI games, marking the most ever in a single season (1987 had three).
Your move, Cubs. Back at Wrigley for the Thursday night series finale with the Mets, they dumped 14 more runs on the New Yorkers, their first time scoring 14 in back-to-back games against the same opponent since sweeping a doubleheader from the Braves on May 21, 1944, by scores of 15-1 and 14-5. And Thursday thus marked the first time in history (which for this purpose goes to 1901) that the Cubs and White Sox had each scored at least 14 runs on the same day.
Intermission
Somebody call 911. (Note: We do not condone doing this except in case of an actual emergency.
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(or, For Chicago, Now Press 1)
Perhaps the White Sox should have banked some of those hits for Sunday. Even one or two would have been plenty. In their series finale back in Detroit, Matt Boyd retired the first eight Sox hitters before walking number-nine hitter Michael Brantley. The Tigers did their own version of piling up runs, scoring in their first six turns to burst out to a 9-0 lead. And it was almost like they never left the on-deck circle. Boyd got through innings 4 through 7 on 49 pitches and retired all 12 White Sox batters. If you're following along, you know what's happening here. The Tigers finally failed to score in the 7th, but a 1-2-3 top of the 8th set up Boyd's chance at history. Which had to wait while Jeimer Candelario cranked a 3-run homer to make it 12-0.
Adam Engel fouls out to start the 9th. Pinch hitter Kevan Smith replaces Rob Brantly (the only batter to reach, if you've noticed) and he grounds to second. Leadoff batter Tim Anderson cranks a 2-0 pitch down the right-field line.
Watching only the text version of this, we assumed the subsequent "coaching visit to mound" would involve Boyd's removal, but Brad Ausmus left him in to get the final out and the prestigious SHO-1. It's just the third this season (Dylan Bundy and Ervin Santana have the others), and the first by a Tiger since Justin Verlander just missed his third no-hitter on August 26, 2015, against the Angels.
The last Tigers pitcher to lose a no-hitter with 2 outs in the 9th was Jim Joyce on June 2, 2010. No wait, we're sorry, that's Armando Galarraga; it's the infamous game where umpire Jim Joyce admitted to missing the call on Jason Donald's grounder to second that would have completed the perfect game. The last Detroiter to lose a non-perfect no-hitter after 8⅔ was Walt Terrell against the Angels on August 20, 1986. And the last Tiger to throw an SHO-1 and have the team win by 12 runs was back on April 26, 1952, when Art Houtteman also lost a no-hitter with two outs in the 9th on a single by Cleveland's Harry Simpson. Detroit still won that contest 13-0.
For Boston, Press 15
Trailing 5-2 going to the 9th, Boston rallied for three runs without an extra-base hit to tie the game, and then promptly stranded two go-ahead runs to send us to extras. They had two runners on in the 11th and 12th, a replay review of a tag at the plate took another go-ahead run off the board, and finally with two more runners in the 14th, Rafael Devers singled home Mookie Betts for a 6-5 lead. Let's go home, it's already after midnight.
Mmmm, nope. You know how the guy who made the great play last inning, always leads off the next inning? Kiermaier, who had gunned down Mitch Moreland trying to go first-to-third on that same RBI single, deposited the third pitch of B14 into the right-field seats. It's now 6-6. His was the first-ever tying (not walkoff) homer in Rays history in the 14th inning or later; one Bob Smith (which may or may not be his real name) hit one in the 13th against the Orioles on April 19, 2002.
So okay, if one run isn't enough, let's see if seven will do. The Red Sox batted around, combining five hits, a walk, a hit batter, and two errors (it's now 1 a.m.) to suddenly be up 13-6. Finally the Rays gave in and did nothing in their half aside from a meaningless Corey Dickerson single.
The seven was the most runs the Red Sox had ever scored in an inning numbered 15 or higher. Their previous high had been a 5-run 16th against the Indians on July 28, 1951, and that was a home game! After surrendering an RBI single to Larry Doby in the top of the 16th, Ted Williams tied it with a double to score Johnny Pesky, and then Clyde Vollmer hit a walk-off grand slam off none other than Bob Feller. No, Feller didn't pitch a 15⅔-inning complete-game loss, although he probably wanted to; he came on in relief two innings earlier, replacing our old friend Snuffy Stirnweiss who had pinch-hit in the 14th.
The last time any team posted a 7 in the 15th or beyond was on July 3, 1993, in a game that still holds the record for scoring in any extra inning. The Rangers sent 16 batters to the plate against the Athletics and won a 16-4 contest that had been tied 4-4 after regulation. Needless to say, Oakland went 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
And since Tropicana Field doesn't have to worry about long rain delays (although once in a while the lights do go out there), Friday's 1:15 am final out was the fourth-latest finish in that stadium's history. They played an 18-inning game with the Orioles on September 20, 2013, that ended on a walkoff at 2:05 am. The two in between were a 16-inning game in 2011, and Game 2 of the 2008 ALCS which "only" went 11 innings but also didn't start until nearly 8:30 because of national TV. Those games, like Friday, were both against the Red Sox as well.
All told, the Red Sox collected 21 base hits, with only Moreland's 4th-inning solo shot leaving the yard. That hadn't happened since July 17, 1997, when Mo Vaughn hit the only homer out of 21 Boston hits in a 12-9 win over Baltimore. Xander Bogaerts chipped in four hits, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch, making him the first Red Sox leadoff batter to reach base six times in a game-- any game, of any length-- since Wade Boggs did it against Oakland in an 11-10 festival on July 31, 1991.
And as we say around here, there's always one guy left out. Here's Dustin Pedroia's night: Grounder to the pitcher, fly to right, fly to center, fly to right, strikeout, liner to short, strikeout, reached on error, groundout to second to end that 7-run 15th. That's 0-for-9 if you're counting along. And he was the DH so he didn't even get to make any spectacular plays on defense. The only other Red Sock in the live-ball era to draw an 0-for-9 was Trot Nixon, who did so in a 19-inning loss to the White Sox on July 9, 2006. However, Pedroia managed to score a run after that reached-on-error play in the 15th. And only one other player in the live-ball era has pulled that off, for any team. Danny Thompson of the Twins went 0-for-10 but reached on a fielder's choice and scored in a 22-inning affair against the Brewers on May 12, 1972.
For the Bronx, Please Hang Up And Dial Queens
Among the impacts from Hurricane Irma was the pre-emptive moving of last week's Yankees/Rays series. Although several stadiums were offered as possible sites, MLB went with Citi Field in Queens since that meant only one team would have to travel instead of both. It was still a Rays home series, however; the only other "neutral site" game so far this year has been the Reds/Pirates Little League special at Bowman Field in Williamsport.
Kevin Kiermaier opened Tuesday's game with a leadoff home run, the first one ever hit by a Rays player in Queens. He then went deep again on Wednesday to become the first Ray with multiple homers in that fine borough. Neither of these is terribly impressive since Tampa Bay has only visited the Mets nine teams. But the Yankees visit the Mets every year (and vice versa). So it was a little surprising to find out that the Yankees hadn't given up a leadoff homer in Flushing since July 6, 1975. On that occasion they were the home team; it was the two years where they borrowed Shea during Yankee Stadium renovations. Chris Singleton of the Orioles was the one who hit it.
Meanwhile, Adeiny Hechavarria's homer on Tuesday made him the first player in Rays history to complete the career cycle in Queens. He had the single, double, and triple on Monday, and in so doing, became the first Ray to go 1B-2B-3B in a loss twice in the same season. He pulled if off from the ninth spot in the order at Chicago on September 3.
For San Diego, Press 0
Not even operator assistance could help the Padres this week. On Monday they went to Target Field and not only failed to score a run, but gave up sixteen of them. It was the third-largest shutout loss since the Padres got elevated to major-league status in 1969... and the others were both in 1969. They dropped a 19-0 to the Cubs on May 13 of the year, and then duplicated that "feat" against the Dodgers on June 28.
As for the Twins, Tuesday's game would have tied for their biggest shutout win in team history... except for the 17-0 score they dropped on the Royals 10 days earlier. No team in the majors had posted two shutouts that large in the same month since the Cardinals did it in June 1944. (And hey, their season turned out okay.)
Former New Britain Rock Cat Brian Dozier got the damage started early when he hit his eighth leadoff homer of the season, one behind George Springer for the major-league lead. It's also the most by a Twins player since Jacque Jones led the majors with 11 in 2002.
Then on Saturday the Padres went to Coors Field in Denver, which is famous for 16-run outbursts due to its altitude. One team had such an outburst... and the other was the Padres, who were no-hit by Tyler Anderson until Manuel Margot dribbled a ground ball "about nine or ten feet" in front of the plate, according to Rockies radio, and beat it out for an infield single. The Padres would finish with only three hits-- two of them in that inning-- and another 16-0 defeat, just five days after the first one.
Only five teams in MLB history have been on the wrong end of two 16-0 (or worse) shutouts in the same season, and none of them's done it in five days. We just mentioned one of the others... the Padres in their inaugural season of 1969. The others were the 1990 Red Sox and two 19th-century teams: The 1886 Brooklyn Grays (now the Dodgers) and the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs), in the National League's first season of 1876.
On the Rockies' side of Saturday's game, they were already up 12-0 behind a home run and 4 RBI from Charlie Blackmon, so yeah, let's rest some starters and get that 40-player September roster involved. Enter Former New Britain Rock Cat Pat Valaika, pinch-hitting for Blackmon with the bases loaded in the 7th. Boom. The final 16-0 in grand-slam form. Valaika thus became the first player in at least the live-ball era-- and probably ever, though we haven't been able to prove that yet-- to crank a pinch-hit grand slam with his team already leading by 12 runs. And since RBI became official in 1920, he and Blackmon are the first teammates to each have a home run and 4 RBI out of the leadoff spot in the same game.
Only once before had the Rockies gotten 8 RBI from the leadoff spot, and that was on September 23, 2003, when Ronnie Belliard did it by himself in a 20-9 win over the Diamondbacks. And the 16-0 final was the largest shutout win in Rockies history, topping a 13-0 score against the Marlins... from exactly a decade earlier, to the day (September 16, 2007).
And while the Padres did succeed in scoring a run in Wednesday's game, they got walked off by another Former New Britain Rock Cat, Eddie Rosario, when he homered in the bottom of the 10th. It was the Twins' first walkoff hit (any value) in extra innings this season, leaving the Rockies, Tigers, and Royals still without one. And it was just the third extra-inning walkoff homer in Twins/Senators history against a National League opponent. The aforementioned Brian Dozier beat the Marlins with one last year, and the first was by Kirby Puckett in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series against Atlanta. That homer, of course, forced what has been called the greatest World Series game in baseball history.
Bottom Of The Bag
⋅ Mookie Betts, Tuesday: First player for any team to hit two homers and a triple at Fenway Park since Dwight Evans did it against the Tigers on August 13, 1988.
⋅ Reds, Sat-Sun: First time in (at least) live-ball era that team has had four or fewer hits in consecutive games and won both of them.
⋅ Daniel Mengden, Friday: First visiting pitcher to throw an SHO-2 with no walks in Philadelphia since Jeff Fassero for the Expos on June 29, 1996.
⋅ Alen Hanson & Tim Anderson, Saturday: First White Sox teammates to each reach base four times and have two steals in same game since Julio Cruz and John Cangelosi at Minnesota, June 18, 1986.
⋅ Freddie Freeman, Tuesday: First player in Braves history to collect 3 hits and 3 RBI (official since 1920) on his birthday. Rays are only team left that's never had a player do it (though the Dodgers do go back to Duke Snider in the Brooklyn days).
⋅ Eddie Rosario, Sunday: Fourth multi-homer game this year, all at Target Field. Last Twins batter with four such home games in a season was Harmon Killebrew at Metropolitan Stadium in 1966.
⋅ Didi Gregorius, Saturday: 10th Yankee this season with 3 hits, 3 runs scored, and 3 RBI in a game. Six of those have been against Baltimore. Most such games for Yankees as a team since 1939.
⋅ Matt Kemp, Wednesday: Second player in Braves history (1876) to hit a grand slam in Washington. Herman Long did it against the old National League Senators on April 12, 1892.
⋅ Justin Upton, Saturday: Seventh player in Angels history to hit multiple solo homers accounting for all the team's runs in a game. Second to do it in a win, joining Vlad Guerrero against the Marlins on June 18, 2005.
⋅ Matt Carpenter, Tuesday: First Cardinals leadoff batter to draw four walks in a game since Bobby Bonds at Montréal, June 8, 1980. First to also have a base hit since Lou Brock in 1974.
Did You Know?
One of the most famous phone numbers is actually still in service in many areas. Two plumbing companies waged a court battle over it, and we remember seeing the 201 version on billboards back when a New Jersey DJ had it for his business. But who else except Joe Maddon could shoehorn it into a lineup card?
And it was a completely-unrelated tweet earlier this week that got us to look up that three players this century have played all those positions-- and only those positions-- in the same season. (The DH is position "0" for this purpose, as it is in some scoring software.) They were Kris Bryant last year, Brian Bixler of the Nationals in 2011, and Clay Bellinger for the Yankees in 2001.
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