Let’s get weird. 12 innings is a lot of innings in today’s MLB. Between ghost runners and the inability to fully shift, games are typically over long before the benches are empty. That wasn’t the case tonight though as neither team could push across more than a run through the first two-and-a-half innings of bonus baseball. Ultimately, the Red Sox came out on top after Brennan Bernardino stranded two Rays’ baserunners in the top of the 12th, and Romy Gonzalez singled home the winning run.
Seriously, how often do you see a manager lift his best hitter to put the pitcher into the lineup, effectively allowing him to pinch-run with a faster runner?