Baseball games going into extra innings isn’t exactly a rarity. There’s often last-minute rallies that send things into extras. Rarely though, do games go more than 18 innings. Rarer still do two games go more than 18 innings on the same day.
Mets-Marlins, Rangers-Blue Jays both go 18-plus innings
On Saturday, two games went 18-plus innings. That’s only the second time in MLB history that has happened.
Tom Szczerbowski
That’s what happened Saturday: For just the second time in MLB history, two games went 18-plus innings on the same day. In fact, it was only the fourth time in MLB history that two games went 17-plus innings on the same day.
Saturday, the Miami Marlins and New York Mets played a game that lasted 20 innings before the Marlins eked out a 2-1 victory. The Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays played one of their own that lasted 18 innings, before the Jays won 4-3.
Combined, the two games lasted 11 hours 53 minutes. After the score by the Mets in the fourth inning of their game, about six hours passed until the tie-breaking run in the 20th inning.
Here’s a look at some of baseball’s other longest days, with research done at Baseball-Reference.com.
Wednesday, September 11, 1946: Cubs vs. Braves, 3-3 (17 innings) and Reds vs. Dodgers, 0-0 (19 innings)
Peanuts Lowrey, who has a great name and, for full disclosure is being mentioned primarily because of said name, saw eight at-bats and only managed one hit for Chicago. In fact, the entire Cubs team went 13-for-63 overall, while the Braves went 8-for-55. Of course, the Brooklyn Dodgers laughed at those numbers, putting up an 8-for-63 mark at the plate. Max West had an 0-for-8 day for Cincinnati, while Eddie Stanky put up an 0-for-7 mark for Brooklyn. Pretty bad.
Wednesday, September 11, 1974: Orioles beat Yankees, 3-2 (17 innings) and Cardinals beat Mets, 4-3 (25 innings)
There weren't too many pathetic stats of note from the Sept. 11, 1974, game between the Yankees and Orioles. There were plenty of 1-for-7 and 1-for-6 marks to be sure, but the most important detail about that game is the fact that it was the first game of a doubleheader, and they actually played the second game.
Ted Sizemore saw 10 at-bats for the St. Louis Cardinals in their game. He only managed a single hit. Lou Brock went 1-for-9 behind him, though to be fair, both Ken Reitz and Bake McBride had four hits with 20 combined at-bats. Wayne Garrett of New York did Sizemore one better (or worse) with a 0-for-10 mark.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006: Diamondbacks beat Rockies, 2-1 (18 innings) and Cubs beat Astros, 8-6 (18 innings)
This is the only other day in MLB history that two teams went for 18-plus innings. If we needed any more connections, then look no further than Juan Pierre. He went 1-for-5 as the leadoff man for the Marlins on Saturday, but went 1-for-8 as the leadoff man for the Cubs back in 2006.
Willy Taveras went 1-for-9 at the plate for the Cubs. Jamey Carroll went 0-for-8 for the Rockies in their game. Colorado hit 13-for-61 overall, and the Diamondbacks hit 12-for-63.
So there you have it. A brief look at each of the games that went the distance on the same day as another game. Click on the links for box scores from Baseball Reference and remember: nobody likes tie games.
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