The Arizona Diamondbacks powered through 19 innings of baseball, used 13 pitchers and earned an unlikely 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in a game that lasted nearly seven hours.
Ildemaro Vargas had a game-tying, pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning on Tuesday and then singled with the bases loaded in the 19th at 1:34 a.m. local time on Wednesday, sending Arizona's players streaming from the dugout in celebration.
Carson Kelly and Nick Ahmed started the final rally with back-to-back singles off John Brebbia (3-4), who was the Cardinals' 11th pitcher of the night. Jarrod Dyson and Robbie Ray - a pitcher who had to pinch-hit - struck out before Christian Walker was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Then it was Vargas' turn to be the hero again, smacking a single - his fourth hit of the game - through the left side of the infield.
If Vargas hadn't come through with the game-winning hit, he was going to be on the mound in the 20th inning because the D-backs were out of available pitchers.
The game last 6 hours and 53 minutes and featured 24 pitchers and 48 strikeouts, with both teams plowing through bullpen arms thanks to September's expanded rosters. The Diamondbacks used a franchise-record 30 players. It was the longest game by innings and time in Chase Field history.
The two teams were set to play again in Phoenix 11 hours later.
It's a particularly tough turnaround for the Cardinals, who are locked in a playoff race with the Milwaukee Brewers. St. Louis had its lead in the NL Central cut to 2 1/2 games over Milwaukee. The Cardinals have four games remaining and the Brewers have five.
The Cardinals' bullpen blew two one-run leads, once in the ninth inning and again in the 13th as they wasted a stellar outing from starter Jack Flaherty.
Michael Wacha (6-7, 4.68 ERA) allowed one run over four innings and in his previous outing against the Chicago Cubs.
Merrill Kelly (12-14, 4.31) will head to the mound to begin a game that starts at 12:40 p.m. local time. He'll bring a 15-inning scoreless streak into the game.
