The Twins and Rays couldn't string any hits together Thursday and that resulted in an 18-inning marathon Tampa Bay won 5-2.
While Martin Perez was very good for the Twins, allowing just two earned runs in seven innings of work, and the Rays' pitching staff held down a very good offensive team in Minnesota, there were a lot of bad performances on both sides.
How bad were the performances? Five different players went 0 for 7 or worse in the game. According to ESPN, the last time that happened was in 1901 and the teams involved were the Boston Beaneaters and the Chicago Orphans.
Here's a random tidbit from that 18-inning marathon between the Rays and Twins: Five different players went 0-for-7 or worse. Per Elias, the last game with at least five players going 0-for-7 or worse happened Sept. 21, 1901, in a 17-inning game between... https://t.co/lwSkny0iUM
— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) June 28, 2019
Here are a few more crazy stats showing just how bad the offense was in this game:
- The Rays' pitching staff struck out 22 batters — a franchise record.
- Miguel Sano went 0 for 7 with three strikeouts. He is now 3 for his last 39 with 23 strikeouts.
- The two teams combined to go 31 straight half innings without scoring a run.
- They combined to strike out 39 times. Amazingly that is nine short of the MLB record.
- All batters went 17 for 121 (.140 AVG). Batters reached base 30 times — 17 hits, 11 walks, two HBP (.239 OBP).
- The Rays went seven innings (11th through 17th) without one base hit. They had two total from the 8th through the 17th.
- Minnesota had just one hit from when there was one out in the bottom of the sixth to when there was one out in the bottom of the 13th.
- The Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the first and did not score again the rest of the game.
Studs of the Night
Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo went 2 for 3 with two home runs and a walk in a 3-1 win over the Tigers.
Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman went 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs in a 10-0 win over the Astros.
Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas went 4 for 5 with three doubles and two RBIs in Miami's 8-5 loss to the Nationals.
Dud of the Night
Mets closer Edwin Diaz gave up three hits, two home runs, two walks and five runs in 1/3 inning of work to take a loss in a 6-3 defeat to the Phillies.
Highlight
Anthony Rizzo may not be graceful, but this dive to first base sealed a 9-7 win over the Braves and Craig Kimbrel's first save for the Cubs.
.@ARizzo44 ends it with a penguin dive. 🐧 pic.twitter.com/UHDCqBxtu4
— MLB (@MLB) June 27, 2019
What's Next
Rangers (45-36) at Rays (46-35), 7:10 p.m. ET — The Rangers are all of a sudden closing in on the Astros in the AL West, but the Rays present a much stiffer challenge for Texas. Texas has played just 12 games against teams with winning records over its last 37 games and Tampa Bay is one of the best teams in the American League. The Rangers were 6-6 in those games and are 21-24 this year against teams with records above .500.