The Batavia Muckdogs topped the Auburn Doubledays in a wild 19-18 thriller
We're nearly halfway through the Major League regular season, but short-season Class A ball just got underway this week -- and it only took them a couple of days to produce one of the wildest games of the season.
On Tuesday night, the Auburn Doubledays -- named after Abner, of course -- hosted the Batavia Muckdogs in their home opener. Things seemed to be going well for the home team: Thanks to a four-run eighth, Auburn took an 11-6 lead into the final frame. Of course, we still had three innings, 20 runs and nearly two hours to go.
Over 4.5 hours and 37 runs later, the @BataviaMuckdogs beat the @Doubledays 19-18 in 11 innings pic.twitter.com/elUz9skjlR
— Josh Hess (@JoshHess_) June 21, 2017
Two singles and two errors in the top of the ninth cut the Doubledays' lead to just three. Then, with two outs, Batavia delivered an RBI single and a game-tying two-RBI double to cap off a five-run rally and send the game to extra innings.
But the shenanigans were just getting started. Batavia took a 13-11 lead in the top of the 10th behind a sac fly and an RBI single, but Auburn came up with a rally of their own thanks to a two-out, two-run double from left fielder Oliver Ortiz. In the 11th, Batavia put up a six spot, thanks in large part to four straight walks -- and, as it turned out, they would need every single one of those runs.
The Doubledays loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 11th, and after a hit-by-pitch and a sac fly, Connor Simonetti -- usually a first baseman, but filling in at pitcher -- launched a three-run homer to cut the lead to one. Alas, Auburn ran out of gas: The next batter flew out, finally putting an end to the game.
As you might imagine, 37 runs in 11 innings produced some truly stellar stat lines. Muckdogs left fielder Samuel Castro finished 3-for-8. Ortiz drove in seven runs for the Doubledays. Our favorite, though: Auburn used two different position players on the mound, who combined to give up six runs in 1 2/3 innings.
