A Recap of the Ridiculous 20-Inning Cardinals-Mets Epic, By the Numbers

When a baseball game goes 20 innings -- 18 of them scoreless -- it is usually the most notable game of the day. Whether Ubalddo Jiménez’ no-hitter surpasses ththe Mets’ 2-1 win over the Cardinals likely depends on whether you prefer competence or comedy.

There wasn’t too much competence in the game that would not end. But there was plenty of comedy. Let’s break it down by the numbers.

6:53: Time of game in hours and minutes. Half an hour longer, and it would have tied the National League record.

120: Number of outs recorded.

110: Number of outs recorded before Jose Reyes became the first runner to score, on a Jeff Francoeur sacrifice fly in the 19th inning.

109: Number of out recorded on a Luis Castillo sacrifice bunt against Joe Mather. Castillo bunted against a position player who walked the previous batter, would go on to hit the next batter, and threw 14 strikes in 38 pitches. This was maybe the nadir of Jerry Manuel’s managerial decisions. Luckily, he was managing against Tony La Russa.

10: Number of pitchers used by the Cardinals.2: Number of position players (Felipe Lopez and Mather) used as pitchers by the Cardinals.

0.00: Felipe Lopez’ ERA.

9.00: Joe Mather’s ERA.

1: Number of times La Russa gave Ryan Ludwick the signal to steal second base in the bottom of the 19th down one run.

1: Number of times Ludwick was thrown out.

5: Jersey number of Albert Pujols, who was at the plate at the time and went on to smack a double off the wall, then scored the game-tying run on a Yadier Molina single. Tony La Russa sent a runner with perhaps the greatest hitter of the last ten years at the plate. Tony La Russa is a genius.

1: Number of times Matt Holliday fouled out to first with the bases loaded, and number of times Holliday was involved in a double switch that put Jason Motte at the plate.

3: Number of strikes Motte swung at (he fouled off the first) in a three-pitch strikeout. Tony La Russa: Genius.

1: Number of at-bats starting pitcher Kyle Lohse got as an emergency left fielder.

0: Number of pitches Lohse threw. But again, Tony La Russa is a genius.

11: Number of consecutive innings Francisco Rodriguez warmed up before entering the game in the 19th and blowing a save. Look, I said the Castillo bunt may have been Manuel’s nadir.

1: Number of hits accrued by the Mets in the first 11 and 1/3 innings.

0: Number of times on base, combined, by Francoeur and Jason Bay in 14 at-bats.

1: Number of RBI, combined, by Francoeur and Jason Bay in 14 at-bats. RBI is a fantastic statistic, of course.

652: Number of pitches, combined.

38: Number of pitches Pujols saw.

17: Number of pitches Pujols saw in four plate appearances that turned into walks.

28: Number of pitches to Francoeur in his seven at-bats.

99.4%: Announced attendance as percentage of capacity.

17%: Estimated percentage of fans still around in picture at top of article, taken before Felipe Lopez led off the top of the 20th.

2: Number of entire NBA playoff games (Hawks-Bucks and Celtics-Heat) played during Cardinals-Mets.

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