The Los Angeles Dodgers took down the San Diego Padres 5-3 in 16 innings on Wednesday night (technically Thursday morning when the game ended at 1 a.m. PT) at Petco Park. It’s the longest game since MLB began the runner-on-second rule in extra innings last season, and the first extra innings game to even go beyond the 13th inning with the rule change. The official game time was five hours, 49 minutes.
It was an insane baseball game.
With the Padres leading 1-0, San Diego starting pitcher Blake Snell was cruising into the eighth inning, but Dodgers catcher Will Smith crushed a home run to tie the game on a 95 mph fastball above the strike zone (on Snell’s 116th pitch).
Yo holmes, Snell ya later! pic.twitter.com/YtXrxQ1t9K
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 26, 2021
Very, very little happened for either side on offense until the top of the 15th inning, when the Dodgers got RBI singles from Billy McKinney and Trea Turner to take a 3-1 lead.
But in the bottom of the 15th inning, Padres superstar Fernando Tatís Jr. hit a two-run homer to tie the game back up (the Tatís homer was also the only earned run the Dodgers allowed in the 16 innings). Incredible.
https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1430795244375740417
And in the top of the 16th, Los Angeles outfielder AJ Pollock (who’s having an outstanding, under-the-radar season for the loaded Dodgers) crushed a two-run homer to give the Dodgers lead the back at 5-3.
https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1430797404505219078
That would serve as the final score, with Dodgers reliever Shane Greene going 1-2-3 in the 16th to close out the absolutely wacky baseball game.
The Dodgers (80-47) have now won 11 of their last 12 games and are 2.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.
The Padres (68-60), on the other hand, have lost three games in a row and 11 of their last 13. They’re one game behind the Cincinnati Reds for the second Wild Card slot, and really need to start winning some games. This game would’ve been a much-needed victory, but instead it’s a very painful loss.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.