43 runs. Only 1 HR?!? This game was bonkers

July 23rd, 2021

Imagine this: 43 runs on 28 hits, along with 31 walks, six hit batsmen, eight wild pitches, two balks and 14 -- count 'em, 14 -- errors.

Imagine no more, because that's what the box score looked like after one of the wildest baseball games on record -- the Dominican Summer League Mariners defeated the DSL Yankees, 22-21, in 10 innings on Thursday night, and it was as crazy as it sounds.

Things started off unremarkably, with the Yankees taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks, in part, to a leadoff homer by Daury Arias, the only dinger of this wacky contest. Then the Mariners answered with a six-run second, one in which Yankees starter Carlos Rosario threw two wild pitches and hit two batters, so things got a little weirder. But the wackiness had just begun.

In the third, Yankees catcher Jesus Rodriguez made two consecutive throwing errors on attempts to catch a runner stealing, leading to a Mariners run. In the fifth inning, Mariners left-hander Harold Melenge committed not one, but two balks. That led to two runs scoring, including the tying run, making it 8-8.

Take a deep breath, there's much more. Already a memorably weird game at 13-10 heading into the ninth inning with the Yankees ahead, this is where things really went off the rails.

The Mariners put up a six spot for the second time in the game, taking a 16-13 lead into the bottom of the ninth, looking to end the chaos. But it couldn't be that simple -- not in this contest. The Yankees scored three to tie the game at 16 apiece.

To extra innings!

The Mariners had an automatic runner on second to begin the 10th. A single, two errors, three walks and a hit-by-pitch later, the Mariners were up, 22-16.

Pretty good cushion heading into the bottom of the 10th, right? Not so fast.

Mariners reliever Brayan Diaz walked three straight batters to open the frame, and the chaotic contest appeared to be far from over. But then Diaz got the next two hitters on a groundout and a lineout. Victory in this incredible affair was just an out away.

The next two Yankees batters each singled and each of those plays involved a Mariners throwing error. It was now 22-21, with the Mariners hanging on by a thread. The next batter, Joel Mendez, grounded a ball to third and Nelson Medina, representing the tying run for the Yankees, was tagged out by Mariners third baseman Luis Suisbel.

And it was over, six hours and 35 minutes after the first pitch was thrown.

Believe it or not, the DSL Yankees aren't unfamiliar with unbelievable box scores like this one -- in 2019, they beat the DSL Twins, 38-2. In one game.

The DSL is wild. What will happen next?