Bauers drove in the go-ahead runs in the 16th./JEFFREY S. KING
Wednesday, 4 a.m.
Aliens did not land on the infield. Chunks of the sky did not fall to earth. Baseballs did not complain about being hit by bats.
Pretty much, everything else strange happened in Tuesday night's game between the Rays and the Miami Marlins.
The Rays outlasted Miami, 9-6, in a 16-inning game that lasted five hours and 31 minutes. Tampa Bay, after going 11 innings without scoring, erupted for five runs in the top of the 16th, then held on for the win. Jake Bauers' two-run double with two out was the big hit.
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Nuno had two hits, allowed one and injured himself./JEFFREY S. KING
Along the way:
-- Pitcher Vidal Nuno allowed only one hit in getting the win. However, he had two hits himself. On the first, he was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. On the second, he pulled his right hamstring.
-- Catcher Jesus Sucre started the bottom of the 16th ... as a pitcher. It didn't work out. Three of the four batters he faced reach base.
Kiermaier scored after hitting into a double play./JEFFREY S. KING
-- Centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier -- who threw a runner out at the plate with the score tied in the fifth -- hit into a double play in the 16th ... and scored the winning run. The double play erased two runners on base ahead of him.
-- The Rays collected 20 hits in their win, but for most of the game, they struggled with runners in scoring position.
“The win (was the biggest thing)," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "We’re beat up. We didn’t play our best. Both teams grinded a lot. We found a way to win at the end."
Are the lessons to be learned?
"I think patience," Cash said. "I put the bunt on with Carlos Gomez (who hit into a double play. I thought 'I’m going to stay out the way.' So I didn't have
Robertson had three hits and two walks./JEFFREY S. KING
Kiermaier bunt, and he hit a bullet into a double play. Sometimes, you have to stay out of the way and let them play."
Bauers knocked in Kiermaier and Matt Duffy with the big runs.
“I have no idea (how he got the winning hit)," Bauers said. "I took some fastballs and got frustrated. We were all tired. I was tired, they were tired. I mustered enough strength to hit and something good happened.
I figured I was going to be on the mound at some point."
After taking a 4-0 lead, the Rays struggled to get any add-on runs. They were two-for-10 with runners in scoring position at one point, and they did not score in 11 of their last 12 innings.
Hechavarria had three hits for the Rays./CARMEN MANDATO
Frustrated?
— In the fourth inning, the Rays had runners on first and third with no one out. A strikeout and a double play ended the threat.
— In the sixth, they had runners on first and third with two out. No runs.
— In the seventh, Matt Duffy had a leadoff single. No runs.
— In the ninth, the Rays loaded the bases with two outs, but Joey Wendle struck out.
-- In the 13th, the Rays had runners on first and third with no one out. They did not score.
Cash saw the Rays' second-longest game./JEFFREY S. KING
— In the 15th, Vidal Nuno had a single but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a doulbe. "I told him that watching him was worth the out," Cash said.
— Even in the 16th, the Rays struggled. They got runners on first and third, again, with none out. But a double play again, seemingly got the Marlins out of trouble. But Kiermaier had reached on a fielder’s choice (after hitting into the double play). Bauers’ double drove in two to ignite the 16th.
The 16th was an odd inning. After combining eight the previous 15 innings, the teams combined for seven runs in the 16th.
The Rays will try to find enough fresh arms to start today's game. Matt Andriese is the favorite to go for Tampa Bay, while Jose Urena will start for Miami. Game time is 1:10 p.m. at Marlins Park.
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