Eduardo Rodriguez entered the fourth inning of the Red Sox's 6-5 victory over the Rays in Game 4 of the American League Division Series without having allowed a baserunner, but it wasn't as easy for him as you might think. The Sox left-hander won an unprecedented 17-pitch battle with Austin Meadows for the first out of the third inning, getting a swinging strikeout to finish off the longest at-bat in a postseason plate appearance on record (since 1988).
The longest postseason at-bat before Monday was Johnny Damon's 16-pitch showdown with Jon Lieber in the 2004 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees.
Meadows fouled off the first three pitches, then took three balls before fouling off another 10 in a row. Rodriguez's 17th pitch was an 81.7 mph slider.