Extra Extras!

One of the cool things about baseball is there's no real "clock" on the game. It's nine innings. That could be a lightning quick 9... or it could drag out over 3hrs or so. But, no matter the length.. there is no shortage of drama. It's built in to the game. If there's no clear winner by the 8th inning or so, every runner becomes a high tension thriller. Will he reach scoring position? Who will knock him in? It's fun to watch.. obviously.

Well, yesterday was a bit more of the same.. and a little extra to boot. Extra innings galore. Now, the cool thing about Extras is the hero roles could come from anywhere in the lineup. Lots of heroes yesterday. Take Cliff Pennington who led off the A's 10th with a stinging triple and then buzzed home on an infield chopper to beat the Angels 2-1. That's one way to do it.

Or, you could go the more conventional route like the red hot Andre Ethier did for the Dodgers. After LA fell behind 4-0 early in the game Andre and the boys rallied to a 4-4 tie. Chances for both teams failed to end the game in 9, so.... extras = ) And, what does Andre do to cap off a day in which he set the record for most consecutive April games with a hit (24).. what else? Hit a game winning Home Run in the 10th inning. Cool stuff.

Then you have the guy who's been sitting on the bench watching the game all day. It gets late... manager's make their trickly little moves, next thing you know he's got a bat in his hands and asked to make a difference. That's what Daniel Murphy did for the Mets in Washington. He delivered in spades when he belted a game tying blast in the 8th inning. Then, just for the heck of it he wrapped out a two run double in the 9th inning to ice it.

I know, it's kind of anti-climactic when you're the visiting team and score that winner in the top half of the frame. No where near as cool as the Home team walk off winners. But, still... it's fun to watch. Drew Stubbs completes the streak of visiting teams that stole their games late as the Reds snuck past Milwaukee 7-6 on the strength of his 10th inning lead off bomb. And it was a rocket.. .watch it Here.

But, crazy enough.. my YH goes to an old timer who did something pretty miraculous on this date in 1982. Philadelphia's Pete Rose went 5 for 5 to tie Max Carey for the NL Record, doing it for the 9th time in his career! Rose led the Phils to a 6 run 9th inning and they stomped the Dodgers 9-3 in LA. Congrats to the Hit King.