Red Sox defeat Yankees in 19 inning marathon
April 10, 2015
The only fans that can find this event memorable are the ones that actually stayed awake long enough to see it. When the 19th inning finally came to an end on a game-ending double-play, the clock showed 2:13 AM here on the East Coast. That’s late even for a Friday night, but it was worth it for those fans that lasted until the end to see the Red Sox top the Yankees.
With Koji Uehara serving an early season stint on the disabled list, fill-in closer Edward Mujica blew his first save of the season by surrendering a solo home run to Chase Headley to tie the game at three apiece. That would send the game into extra-innings, where the bullpens would battle through six straight scoreless frames.
David Ortiz put the Red Sox ahead with a home run in the top of the 16th inning, only for Mark Teixeria (who turned 35 years old when the clock struck midnight during that game) to counter with a solo shot of his own.
An RBI single from Pablo Sandoval put the Red Sox back ahead in the 18th inning, but they would squander yet another lead when Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran hit back-to-back doubles to tie it once more in the bottom of the inning. Thus, the game continued.
The game was finally won on a sac fly by Mookie Betts in the top of the 19th inning. The Yankees would get the lead-off man on board to start the bottom of the inning, but Steven Wright got a fly out and a double-play to seal the victory. Wright proved to be a savior for a taxed Red Sox bullpen, tossing the final five innings after the team had run out of other options.
This game would end up being the longest game by time in Red Sox history, taking over 7 hours to complete. The two teams would combine for 138 at-bats and 627 pitches thrown by 17 pitchers. Then after all that, both teams would meet again less than 12 hours later for an afternoon game on Saturday.
Next: Brock Holt hits for the cycle