It took a couple minutes short of forever for the Arizona Diamondbacks to beat the St. Louis Cardinals last night/this morning at Chase Field.
D-backs shortstop Cliff Pennington, who was acquired in the trade that shipped Chris Young off to Oakland, got the walk-off hit that scored Jason Kubel in the bottom of the 16th inning, 12 minutes past midnight.
See also:
-Arizona Diamondbacks Crushed By St. Louis Cardinals in 6-1 Loss
-Arizona Diamondbacks Drop 15 Hits in 6-2 Opening Day Victory
-Arizona Diamondbacks Opening Day at Chase Field (slideshow)
-Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers' "Moneyball" Strategy Isn't Madness
This was all set up by reliever Josh Collmenter, who tossed 77 pitches in relief -- more than the 73 pitches from starter Brandon McCarthy -- and lasted from the 12th to 16th innings, giving up his only run in the top of the 12th.
By the 16th inning, the Diamondbacks were out of bench players, so after Kubel drew a walk, pitcher Ian Kennedy pinch-hit for Collmenter, and laid down the sacrifice bunt, allowing Kubel to advance to second. Pennington hit after Kennedy, and Pennington took the first pitch he saw right up the middle -- far enough for Kubel to score the game-winning run from second base.
And that's how Pennington ended up wearing a bucket of Dubble Bubble on his head.
Believe it or not, there were also some plays in the game that happened in the first nine, or fifteen, innings.
Gerardo Parra led off the game with a homer, and D-backs starter BRandon McCarthy gave up four runs in the third inning.
The Diamondbacks regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth, after Parra scored on a wild pitch from Lance Lynn, then Martin Prado scored on a Miguel Montero sacrifice fly, and Paul Goldschmidt homered to left. That put the score at 5-4 D-backs after five.
McCarthy was pulled after giving up back-to-back hits in the sixth, but reliever Tony Sipp quickly allowed those two runners to score. Brad Ziegler also allowed a run later in the inning, putting the Cardinals up 7-5.
Martin Prado tied the game at 7 in the bottom of the sixth inning, with a two-run homer to left field.
Ziegler stayed in for the seventh inning, and promptly gave up a solo home run to Yadier Molina. The Diamondbacks eventually tied the game at eight in the eighth inning, as an Aaron Hill single scored Parra.
The ninth runs for both teams were scored in the 12th inning, well before Pennington's single in the 16th.
The Diamondbacks are now 2-1, after having won the series against the Cardinals. The team's next game is Friday evening in Milwaukee, as Wade Miley faces off against the Brewer's Kyle Lohse.
Steve Berthiaume quotes of the night:
- (As fireworks play on TV) "This is all completely fraudulent, by the way."
- "I can get you Ryan Seacrest."
