May 25, 2008: Reds, Dusty, Harang, 18 innings
Padres 12 Reds 8 Boxscore HERE
I was sitting at U.S. Bank Arena watching the Cyclones lose to the Las Vegas Wranglers 1-0 in the Kelly Cup playoffs and listening to the Reds-Padres on my headphones. Why? Because of the intrigue of when and how the game would end.
In a game that stretched 18 innings and almost six hours, the Reds used 10 pitchers, including three starting pitchers and lost 12-9. The teams combined to throw 581 pitches, 302 by the Reds, 279 by the Padres.
Adrian Gonzalez hit a game-winning three-run homer off Edinson Volquez in the bottom of the 18th.
Over the first 12 innings, Dusty Baker used starter Matt Belisle for 4.1 innings and then turned to seven relievers. Having run out of pitchers, Baker turned to Aaron Harang in the 13th inning. Pitching two days after his previous start, Harang went four innings, allowing no runs, while striking out nine. He threw 63 pitches. Three days later Harang made his regular start against the Pirates, throwing 73 pitches over four innings. Harang wound up throwing 239 pitches over eight days. After entering that stretch with a 3.12 ERA in 10 starts he went 4-11 5.88 in 18 starts the rest of the way.
Other notes from that game:
Corey Patterson went 0 for 8. Edwin Encarnacion 2 for 9. Ken Griffey Jr and Brandon Phillips each collected two hits. Joey Votto, who double switched into the game in the 9th inning, had three hits. Adam Dunn hit his 13th homer of the year vs Greg Maddux.
San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff homered off David Weathers leading off the 8th to tie the game. The Reds took a 7-6 lead with a run in the 9th vs HOF closer Trevor Hoffman when Griffey Jr. scored on Ryan Freel's two out pinch-hit single. The Padres tied the game when Scott Hairston homered off Francisco Cordero in the bottom of the 9th. The Reds took a 9-7 lead on a Paul Janish two run single in the 11th. But the Padres got two runs in the bottom of the 11th off Fogg, who blew a chance at his first big league save.
Bronson Arroyo, who beat the Padres the previous night, had a pinch-hit single with two outs in the 13th. Paul Bako, the Reds last position player, pinch-hit for Harang and struck out with the bases loaded to end the top of the 17th. The Padres struck out 19 times on the day. Tony Clark, current executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, pinch-hit in the game.