Padres - 000 001 023 113 - 11 13 1
Astros - 000 231 000 110 - 8 9 0
Jayson Stark, The Athletic:
THE LATE, LATE, LATE, LATE, LATE SHOW: To win this game, the Padres had to score in the eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th innings! Want to guess how many teams have scored in five consecutive innings, all in the eighth or later, since 1901? That would be zero, STATS reports. And no team had even scored just in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings of any game in a decade, since the Rays did it (minus the ghost runners) on Aug. 4, 2011.
EXTRA, EXTRA: But this game wasn't the only proof that the Padres love working overtime – even in this series. Just the night before, they'd scored eight runs in extra innings (one in the 10th, seven in the 11th). So if you're adding along at home, that makes an incredible 13 runs in extra innings in back-to-back games!
Not to say it had been a while since any team did that. But the last time it happened, it was nearly a half-century before the Padres even came into existence. The only other team in the modern era to do this, according to STATS, was Shoeless Joe Jackson's 1920 White Sox. Scored 10 runs in extras (all in the 15th and 16th) on May 20, 1920. Put up three more in the 10th the next day. Once again, no ghost-runner asterisks attached.
THE DISASTROS: And finally, let's talk about the Astros, who did something in this game that hasn't been done for a long, long, long, long time. They held a 5-0 lead in the sixth inning. And then . . .
They blew a five-run lead in regulation . . . And they scored in two different extra innings (10th and 11th) . . . And they still lost!
To find the last team to duplicate that feat, according to STATS, you have to travel all the way back to June 28, 1902, when Heinie Smith's New York Giants blew a 5-0 lead to the Phillies in Baker Bowl . . . then scored in the 10th and the 12th . . . and lost anyhow . . . in a game in which their starting pitcher was named (seriously) Blewett – as in Bob Blewett. Couldn't make that up if I tried.
Here are the games referred to above:
August 4, 2011
Rays score in 10th, 11th, and 12th innings.
Blue Jays - 200 000 010 120 - 6 10 0
Rays - 000 030 000 121 - 7 12 0
This 12-inning game was played in 3:51. The 12-inning game on May 29 was 77 minutes longer (5:08), despite only two more plate appearances (106-104) and 35 additional pitches.
May 20-21, 1920
White Sox score 13 runs in extra innings in back-to-back games.
White Sox - 010 200 000 000 002 8 - 13 17 1
Senators - 200 000 100 000 002 0 - 5 18 9
White Sox - 311 100 020 3 - 11 15 2
Senators - 100 203 020 1 - 9 14 1
Washington's nine errors meant only four of Chicago's 13 runs were earned.
June 28, 1902
Giants blow a 5-0 lead, score in 10th, blow that lead, score in 12th, blow that lead, and lose.
Giants - 050 010 000 101 - 8 12 3
Phillies - 040 000 020 102 - 9 14 5
This 12-inning game was played in a crisp 2:20. It featured 109 PAs, a few more batters than in both of the two games mentioned above.
Also: Bob Blewett's major league career lasted only five games (28 innings). And he spent parts of only two seasons in the minor leagues (1902-03). He later served as president of the Pacific Coast International League, a Class-B league based in the Northwest United States and British Columbia, Canada (1918-22), not to be confused with the more well-known Pacific Coast League.
Does Jayson know these innings all start with a runner on second base?
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Jayson Stark hated the extra-inning-runner idea when it was on the way. But when games began, he discovered (to his surprise) that he liked it.
ReplyDeleteThis moronic rule is playing havoc with linescores, which bothers me. But I still thought this game was noteworthy.