Yankees' 13-inning Win On Friday Night Rarer Than You Would Think

 

Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1, in 13 innings on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, as catcher Jose Trevino won it on an RBI single, giving the Yankees their ninth win in their last 10 games and running their Major League-best record to 42-16. It might not be noticeable what the most noteworthy part of that sentence is. 

This was the Yankees' longest extra-inning game since April 22, 2019, when they beat the Angels in Anaheim in 14 innings, 4-3.

It also is their longest under the new rule Major League Baseball instituted in 2020 where a runner (whoever made the last out in the prior inning) is placed at second base to open the 10th inning and beyond.

It is only the seventh Major League game that has gone at least 13 innings since the automatic runner rule was put in place, and only the third time that a team has not scored in extras until the 13th or later. The Dodgers-Padres game on August 25, 2021 went 16 innings and neither scored in extra innings until the 15th, when each put up two runs and the Dodgers scored two in the top of the 16th to win 5-3. The Houston-Oakland game on August 7, 2020 went 13 innings, with neither scoring until the 13th, with Houston getting one run in the top of the 13th and Oakland getting two in the bottom half to win 3-2.

What made Friday's Yankees-Cubs game unique among those instances it that the Trevino RBI accounted for the only run in extra innings. 

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone was asked in his pregame press conference on Saturday afternoon if he was surprised a game could go 13 innings under this format, and he said, "You don't necessarily expect one to go that long, great job by both teams of obviously stranding runners out there, you know, thought we had some good passes on some balls leading up to that, you know where (Aaron) Hicks smokes the ball (in the 11th with two runners on and none out), Higgy (Kyle Higashioka) just missed one (11th with 2 on and 1 out), (Josh) Donaldson just missed one (to lead off 13th), so we had some opportunities there where I thought we actually put together a good at-bat, but just weren't able to punch through.

"Yeah, definitely a little surprising when it goes that late and then, obviously, Jose coming in and finishing it off was nice."

To elaborate on what Boone said, the bottom of the 11th inning, with Brandon Hughes pitching for Chicago, went as follows: Josh Donaldson at second base as the ghost runner. Hughes intentionally walked Gleyber Torres to give the Yankees runners at first and second base with nobody out. Aaron Hicks lines out to third baseman Patrick Wisdom for the first out. Kyle Higashioka flies out to left fielder Ian Happ for the second out. Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounds into a force out, shortstop Nico Hoerner to second baseman Nick Madrigal to erase Torres at second. 

The sequence of the bottom of the 13th inning, with Alec Mills in for Chicago, was: Joey Gallo started at second base as the ghost runner. Donaldson lined out to Happ in left. Torres hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Christopher Morel for the second out, and Gallo took third base. Hicks was intentionally walked, giving the Yankees runners on first and third with two out. Jose Trevino pinch-hit for Higashioka. Hicks advanced to second base on defensive indifference, which took away the possibility of a force out. Trevino singled to left-center field to bring in Gallo.

The Yankees' pitchers who shut down Chicago in extras were Clarke Schmidt (2 innings pitched, no hits, no runs, 1 walk, no strikeouts), Wandy Peralta (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 BB, 0 K), and Rob Marinaccio (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K).

For Marinaccio, the 26-year old right-hander (turns 27 on July 1) from Brick, New Jersey, it was his first Major League win.