Dusty Baker called the Washington Nationals’ 16-inning victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday the craziest game he’s ever seen. Well, there was another game going on in Major League Baseball on Sunday that was just about as bonkers.
The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-10 in 13 innings at Chase Field, in a game that went over five hours, had 43 total players used between the two teams, and had several pitchers doing things other than pitching.
It had already been a wild game to begin with, but things certainly went up a notch in the 12th inning.
With the Diamondbacks trailing 10-9, Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke pinch-hit for Diamondbacks relief pitcher Tyler Clippard, and got a single. Diamondbacks pitcher Shelby Miller then came into the game as a pinch-runner, replacing Greinke. Miller would come around to score on a Jean Segura single, tying the game 10-10.
Well, earlier in the inning, Arizona infielder Nick Ahmed was ejected for arguing balls and strikes (I would’ve gotten ejected on this “strike” call too):
The Diamondbacks were left with no more position players on the bench, so Shelby Miller stayed in the game to play left field in the 13th! And he actually played a Sean Rodriguez go-ahead double off the wall pretty well.
#DBacks had to put Shelby Miller in left field today. Here’s the throw he made to second base (via @CBSSportsMLB): pic.twitter.com/Mgnok5KiA0 — Max Wildstein (@MaxWildstein) April 25, 2016
Y’ALL pic.twitter.com/DL3XO9A8I5 — Cespedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) April 25, 2016
On Tuesday, Shelby Miller will start against the #STLCards. Right now, he’s playing left field. — Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) April 25, 2016
Most recent pitchers to field a position other than pitcher Shelby Miller (today) Jason Gurka (Sept 15, 2015) Tony Sipp (June 15, 2014) — Ace of MLB Stats (@theaceofspaeder) April 25, 2016
Then, to perfectly summarize this game, Pirates pitcher Jonathon Niese pinch-hit, and hit an RBI single to Shelby Miller in left field:
And with that Niese single, this became the first game to have both teams get pinch-hitting hits from pitchers since 2003:
#Dbacks Greinke & #Pirates Niese: first pinch-hitting pitchers each with a hit in the same game for opposing teams since June 4, 2003.
— Ace of MLB Stats (@theaceofspaeder) April 25, 2016
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle wouldn’t go as far to say that this was the craziest game he’s ever seen, but he did say it was in the top-five:
“That was top-five crazy,” marveled manager Clint Hurdle.
