This may sound a bit ridiculous, but once my heart rate and blood pressure stabilized after the end of today’s 19-inning Canada Day celebration of baseball, and I started thinking about how I could possibly do justice to this day on “paper”, a certain song from The Sound of Music started running through my head. The answer to the question in the title, borrowed with thanks from Rodgers and Hammerstein, is, of course, that you can’t.
Though in the end I desperately wanted the Jays to be rewarded with a W after the investment of six hours and thirteen minutes of their time, when you think back on it, it doesn’t really matter—much—who won the game. If in the outcome the Jays, in particular their pitching staff, had to have their hearts broken, it’s equally the case that if we had won the game, the Indians and their pitchers would just as unfairly have have been let down.
The events of today in a closed TV Dome—imagine how hot and how muggy, and how eternal it must have felt to be in attendance—referenced virtually every scenario, every man-to-man confrontation, every challenge to the courage of an athlete, that you can possibly imagine. It also summoned for us every cliché, every meme, every philosophical reflection on the nature of baseball that comes to mind. Let’s just stick with one, for simplicity’s sake.
You have to start, as always,, with Yogi Berra. That’s right: “it ain’t over ’til it’s over”. This one could have been over in the top of the first, if Marcus Stroman hadn’t immediately shown that, on this day, anyway, he had his mojo back. It certainly could have been over in the bottom of the first, when the incomprehensible strike zone of the incompetent Vic Carapazza led to the even more incomprehensible ejection of the Jays’ own Mr. Teddy Bear, Edwin Encarnacion. Without wanting to disparage Devon Travis, he did go one for seven and left five runners on base when pressed into service as the replacement DH for Edwin. At what point might the game have ended before the nineteenth inning if the potent and streaky-hot bat of Encarnacion had remained in the lineup? I refuse to give Carapazza the dignity of ever referring to this incident again. If you want to wallow in the injustice of it all, look up Gregg Zaun’s comments. Normally I just find him annoyingly cranky, but on the topic of the accountability of MLB’s umpires I think he’s spot on.
There also was a gathering sense of it being over when the Indians took an early lead in the third inning. They combined two of their five hits against Stroman, a leadoff double by Carlos Santana and an RBI single by Jason Kipnis, to produce the only run in the game until Justin Smoak tied it in the sixth with a solo homer. The problem was that, as effective as Stroman was, Indians’ starter Josh Tomlin was equally effective, as their remarkably comparative pitching lines show. Stroman went six and two thirds innings, giving up one run on five hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. Compared to his recent outings, the return to effectiveness was remarkable. But there was nothing to choose from between him and Josh Tomlin, a veteran righty with five years of sometimes limited service with Cleveland. But this year, Tomlin’s record has surged right alongside the Indians’, standing at 9-1 with a 3.32 ERA going into today’s game. So how did he perform today? Six innings, one run on seven hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts. Stroman threw 96 pitches, Tomlin 99. So, until Smoak smoked one in the sixth off Tomlin, it was looking like another one of those games for the Jays’ hitters.
I’m sorry, you’re right. I just have to stop using that corny Smoak joke. (See? Can’t help myself!)
While Indians’ manager Terry Francona allowed Tomlin the good grace to slip away quietly at the end of six with the game tied, Jays’ Acting Manager DeMarlo Hale (oh, did I mention that John Gibbons was pitched by Carapazza about four seconds after Encarnacion in the first inning?) elected to send Stroman back out for the seventh. Though he did get two additional outs, he also loaded the bases for himself on a single, a rare fielding error by Justin Smoak, and a walk, and left the mound in serious danger of having overstayed his welcome and equally in danger of being collared for the loss. Fortunately, Brett Cecil came in to a lefty-lefty leverage situation for the first time since his return to the acive roster, after pitching an inning the night before in the loss to Carrasco and the Indians. Cecil threw three pitches in the zone, Jason Kipnis lofted the third one to centre field, and the threat was over, but the game wasn’t, because it ain’t over . . .
By the end of the regulation nine it looked like we were settling in for a fairly long afternoon in front of the sea of red that filled the entire stadium. It didn’t seem quite right to play the Canada Day game under the dome, but it had been raining earlier in the day, so there wasn’t much choice. As things progressed, of course, it became obvious that you don’t need sunlight and fresh air to keep you glued to your seats in a game like this. After the starters left and Cecil had done his little thing, the Indians’ trio of Dan Otero, Tom Gorzelanny, and Jeff Manship sailed to the end of nine for the Tribe. Hale, however, chose to follow the pattern that Gibbie has used lately (who was that guy he was talking to on the dugout phone, anyway?), gambling that his most recent setup man, Jason Grilli, and his closer, Roberto Osuna, could be profitably used to shut the opponents down while we scratched out the win at home. Well, Grilli and Osuna did their jobs, complete with the now-familiar Grilli fist-pump after the concluding strikeout, and Osuna’s fervent thanksgivings. But the Jays’ hitters didn’t hold up their end of the deal, and off to the tenth inning we went. No problem, we’re the home team, we’ve got the hammer, right? How long’s it gonna take to put one across?
Turns out, too long, in fact, never. As you know, “never” is a long, long time. Especially today.
But that doesn’t mean that the last ten innings didn’t have their moments. I love the stylish French term for orgasm, petit mort. Well, let me tell you, there were tons of petits morts yet to come for the fans, but not too many were thinking about sex, I can assure you, except for the fifteen-year-old boys in the crowd who never think about anything else.
This game was now totally in the hands of the pitchers, and then some, in the case of the Jays. Let’s run through the performances on both sides. Such heroism deserves recognition.
The Indians used Bryan Shaw and Zach McAllister for one inning each, Tommy Hunter for two, and Joba Chamberlain for one, before Terry Francona made the momentous decision to put Trevor Bauer, his scheduled starter for Saturday, into the game. I’ll address this move in a moment, but first let’s look at the work of his predecessors. Shaw whipped through the tenth in six pitches. McAllister escaped from a jam of his own making by getting Justin Smoak to pop up in foul territory to Jose Ramirez at third. He stranded Devon Travis and Troy Tulowitzki, who had both walked, Travis having stolen second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Hunter retired six of seven he faced over two, only Josh Donaldson reaching on a hit batsman. It was Hunter who got the sardonic pleasure, I suppose, of watching Russell Martin get tossed by Carapazza after he objected too vociferously, supposedly, for being rung up on a disputed checked swing call. Martin, who had watched his teammates get jobbed at the plate all day, and also watched his own pitchers get equally jobbed, went bat-poop crazy when he was thrown out while walking away from the umpire. Thus ended Hunter’s two innings of work, and Francona then turned to the last man standing in the Indians’ bullpen, Chamberlain. It’s pretty desperate when you have to call on the former rock star of the Yankees, now reduced to a rock-digger for the Indians, to keep you in a long, extra-inning affair.
Chamberlain did not disappoint, at least from the Jays’ perspective. The only thing he didn’t do for them was unlock the turnstile to the plate so what was left of the crowd could go watch fireworks. After he had loaded the bases on Tulowitzki’s single, a short, sharp double to left by Darwin Barney on which Kevin Pillar was held at third, and a walk to Ezequiel Carrera, mixed in with a couple of fielder’s choices to second that swapped out one runner for the next, it all came down to this: Josh Donaldson at the plate with a two-two count, and Pillar leading off third with the winning run. Excruciatingly, Donaldson grounded out to Mike Napoli at first to end the inning. This let Mr. Chamberlain escape to the dugout with his skin, and the tie, intact.
Now we come to the point where the two managerial paths diverged in the wood, and Terry Francona took the one less travelled by, and that made some difference, anyway, even if what he chose to do might be as significant to the last two games of the series as it was to this one. In a decision perhaps hinging largely on the fact that the Indians were trying to preserve a winning streak that had reached thirteen games, Francona decided to raid the rotation and bring Trevor Bauer, scheduled to start on Saturday, into the game, since his bullpen well had run dry.
In terms of the game in front of him, you have to say that this was a bold but ultimately successful decision. Bauer gave them five full innings, and held on to be the beneficiary of Carlos Santana’s nineteenth-inning homer that won the game. Oh, you didn’t know that? Sorry. Thought everybody knew how it turned out by now. He actually pitched pretty well, as befits a starter who came out of this game with a record of 7-2 and an ERA of 3.02. Only in the sixteenth was he in any trouble, when he induced Darwin Barney to pop out and struck out Ezequiel Carrera with runners on first and third after giving up base hits. Geez, you’d think a guy would bounce one to the backstop once in a while with a runner on third in extra innings!
Not having any more arms in his bullpen than Francona, DeMarlo Hale actually faced exactly the same decision, but his options were considerably more limited, as we shall see. Before we get to that point in the game, though, let’s look at some of the thrills and chills delivered by our relievers from the tenth inning to the seventeenth, when Hale’s well finally ran dry and he came to the same divergence on the path.
Okay, enough with the Robert Frost here, not to mention mixed metaphors. Let’s get to the performance of the Jays’ relievers, real pitchers or otherwise, from the tenth inning on.
Joe Biagini took the ball in the tenth, and skated on thin ice, hitting Jason Kipnis and giving up a single to Mike Napoli before Kevin Pillar saved his prosciutto with one of his patented catches diving to the left.
Jesse Chavez came in for the eleventh and was brilliant for three innings, setting the Indians down in order and striking out two. More often than not, Chavez’ appearances look like serious auditions for a spot in the starting rotation. After all, his resume shows two years of full participation in the Oakland rotation before coming here. His presence in the Toronto bullpen is primarily because all the starting spots are well spoken for. If somebody falters, though, it’s an open question as to whether the callup for the rotation would go to Chavez or the more obvious candidate, Drew Hutchison, now that Gavin Floyd’s stay on the DL looks to be pretty lengthy.
Drew Storen and then Bo Schultz took over from Chavez. Lonnie Chisenhall led off the fourteenth with a base hit, then advanced to second and third on ground balls, but died there as Storen chalked up a third straight ground ball out. Hale sent him back out for the fifteenth, and he got Carlos Santana on a fly ball to left before faltering. He walked Jason Kipnis, and gave up a single to Francisco Lindor that moved Kipnis around to third with one out. Hale went back to the pen and pulled out Schulz, who was basically the last man standing out there. Schultz quickly ended the uprising by getting Mike Napoli to ground into an around-the-horn double play.
That earned Schultz a return to the mound in the sixteenth. Apparently thinking he pitches better under pressure, he gave up singles to the first two hitters, just so he could feel comfy out there, Jose Ramirez going first-to-third on the single by Lonnie Chisenhall. The dark clouds gathered again for the Blue Jays, but dissipated with the advent of a brilliant sun as Schultz teased a popup, a strikeout, and a line out from the Indians to leave Ramirez gathering artificial daisies from the artificial turf around third. It’s a measure of the grit of Schultz, recently returned to the active roster after undergoing hip surgery earlier in the year, that he started to show obvious signs of discomfort in the hip area while on the mound, yet soldiered on, successfully as it turned out, because there was no one left in the bullpen. Except Ryan Goins. As they say on the internet, “Wha-a-a-a-a-t??”
You will recall that DeMarlo Hale faced the same unpalatable choice as Terry Francona, but with less flexibility. Generally, the problem Hale faced was created by the success of the rotation so far this year. Every starter is coming off an outing of 90 pitches, so the five-day rest is a real need. R.A. Dickey had thrown 92 pitches the night before. Marco Estrada is now questionable from start to start with his recurring back problems. Jay Happ was scheduled for his hard bullpen work the following day, and nobody is going to mess with Aaron Sanchez’ arm.
The TV audience probably knew about the plan to use Goins before the fans in the stands did. The bullpen camera picked him up, and his starting to throw was remarked upon by Buck and Pat. In truth, I had already thought something was odd, because I had checked the available bench listing on the on-line box score, and noticed that it showed the Jays’ bench as stripped, whereas Goins hadn’t been used yet. My first thought was that he was sick or something, and had been pulled from the lineup card. But there he was, up and throwing in the pen. It makes perfect sense when you think about it, though. If you’re going to use a position player to pitch, who better than a guy who knows all the other positions anyway, and has the strongest infield arm on the team, to boot?
So Goins took the ball in the top of the eighteenth, and, by golly, he looked good, showing poise on the mound and displaying an arsenal of interesting if sometimes dinky pitches. But earnestness and a good front don’t cut it much against major league hitters. He immediately gave up a single to Jose Ramirez, and another to Chisenhall, which sent Ramirez around to third. With the infield in, Michael Martinez hit a grounder to short, and Barney went to the plate as Chisenhall didn’t get a good jump. A rundown ensued, and Goins nominated himself fifth infielder to put the tag on the runner. Meanwhile, Ramirez and Martinez came around to second and third. Goins then issued an intentional pass to Tyler Naquin, and then made the strategy pay off by getting catcher Chris Gimenez to ground into a double play to end the inning.
The Jays had no else warming up in the bullpen, so it looked like Goins would get another inning if the Jays didn’t score against Bauer in the bottom of the eighteenth. But when they took the field for the nineteenth, low and behold, there was Darwin Barney on the mound, and Devon Travis, who had been serving as the DH in Encarnacion’s absence, at second base. The Jays thereby lost their DH, but it hardly mattered, since their pitcher’s spot would now be occupied by a position player from this point on.
Following the idea that a baseball game can theoretically go on forever, the Jays were now in the position of having no one else left on the bench or in the pen except starting pitchers, and you could imagine the game carrying on inning after inning, with the pitching chores being handed round to all the players in their turn. But, alas, it was not to be. For all of the marvellous skills he deploys from day to day on the diamond, even Darwin Barney can’t come in and pitch effectively without a warmup session in the bullpen. Of course he couldn’t warm up. He had been playing second the previous inning, and was due to hit fourth in the bottom of the eighteenth, so he had just too darn much to do to take the time to get his arm loose enough to pitch.
Sadly, perhaps inevitably, after going to three and two on leadoff hitter Carlos Santana, he served up one that was a little too juicy, and Santana juiced it back, over the fence in right centre, for the lead run that would win the marathon for the Indians. By now Barney was loose enough to retire the side in order, ending on a high note by fanning slugger Mike Napoli on a one-two count with, according to Pitch Tracker, a 78 MPH slider down and away.
Barney threw 16 pitches in his inning of work, and Goins had thrown fifteen. The results, when you compare them with most other instances when position players have been called on to pitch, were really quite good. In fact, both of them seem to have studied at the Marco Estrada school of precision and sang froid. There’s no doubt that the Jays’ manager would not hesitate to call on either of them if the need should arise again. But the question remains: why didn’t Ryan Goins, who is a gamer to the core, not answer the bell for the nineteenth inning?
With all the wind sucked out of the dome by Santana’s blast, the Jays went meekly and mildly in the bottom of the inning. Trevor Bauer only needed nine pitches to secure the win. Darwin Barney would go into the books as the loser in this one, but in another, more important book, the book of the heart, he, Ryan Goins, and Bo Schultz, jouneymen ballplayers all, are recorded as the true heroes of this wonderful and entertaining game.
The Indians have taken the first two games of the series, and their winning streak now stands at fourteen, but where does Terry Francona go from here? He decided to raid the Tribe’s starting rotation because this game was so important to his team, but what consequence will there be for making that call?
Marco Estrada is scheduled to start for Toronto tomorrow. The Cleveland starter is “to be announced”.
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