'Tough one to swallow': Bucs run out of chances in 14-inning loss

TORONTO -- Bailey Falter suspected the hook was coming soon in the bottom of the sixth inning. He had been solid all night, but with two runners on base in a one-run game and plenty of right-handers due up, it was pretty clear Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was his last batter.

Falter decided to “let a couple eat and see what we can do.” He succeeded, blowing a 94 mph fastball by the Blue Jays’ No. 3 hitter to end his scoreless outing with a Pirates victory in sight.

Little did he -- or anyone at Rogers Centre on Friday evening -- know that there was almost a full ballgame still waiting for them.

The Pirates and the Blue Jays played the longest game of the 2024 season, and the home team came out on top on a Davis Schneider two-run home run off Kyle Nicolas in the bottom of the 14th to hand Pittsburgh a 5-3 loss.

This was just the fifth time a game has gone at least 14 innings since the new extra-innings rules were enacted in 2020, putting an automatic runner at second base. The most recent such game was a Guardians victory over the Astros on June 9, 2023.

"Yeah, you very rarely see a game that goes that long,” said manager Derek Shelton. “You very rarely see a game where there's not multiple runs scored in an [extra] inning. There were multiple innings in extra innings where no runs were scored. It was a pretty valiant pitching effort on both sides."

Falter’s six scoreless innings of two-hit ball -- or Blue Jays starter José Berríos’ one-run seven frames -- would normally be the story of the game, but 14-inning games in 2024 are about as rare as, well, a 94 mph strikeout pitch from Falter.

There was seemingly something odd or noteworthy happening in most of the frames after Falter exited.

• The 7th: With a runner on first, Daniel Vogelbach barreled a cutter from Colin Holderman that appeared to be the third out of the inning, but center fielder Ji Hwan Bae couldn’t find it in the lights and it went over his head for a game-tying double.
• The 9th: Oneil Cruz took a big step toward second to try to steal a base, but he stopped and tried to retreat back to the bag and was picked off.

"It looked like he got to the third step and didn't think he had a good jump,” Shelton said. “But at that point, he's just gotta go."

• The 11th: With Bae on third, Bryan Reynolds lined a ball to right field that looked like extra bases, but George Springer went airborne to make a diving grab. It still resulted in a sacrifice fly, but that could have been a much bigger inning for the Pirates.

"That changed the game,” Shelton said. “That's the best catch we've seen all year.”

• The 12th: Ke’Bryan Hayes lifted a sacrifice fly to get Connor Joe, the automatic runner, home. Hayes’ sixth-inning single was the Pirates’ last hit of the game.
• The 13th: Carmen Mlodzinski, who entered play with a 12.71 ERA, tossed a scoreless frame to keep the game going. The Pirates’ bullpen had recorded a 5.49 ERA in May entering play, the worst mark in the National League, but they were solid Friday. While Mlodzinski and Hunter Stratton failed to preserve one-run leads in the 11th and 12th, those were two-inning outings. Besides, those innings would have most likely been scoreless had it not been for the automatic runner.

"Huge outing by those guys,” Shelton said. “They came in, multiple innings by Stratton. Multiple innings by Carmen. Kyle came in, threw the ball right on the plate and went right after people. It was a good bullpen outing for us."

• The 14th: Jared Triolo tried to make an aggressive move and advance to third on a ground ball to the left side of the infield with one out, but he was tagged out.

"Too aggressive,” Shelton said. “… I'm guessing Tri thought the third baseman was at a deeper angle and we can't have that happen. That play can't happen."

Cue Schneider’s home run off Nicolas in the home half of the inning and that was the ballgame, one the Pirates had opportunities to win but couldn’t convert, despite the performance of the pitching staff.

“It’s a tough one to swallow, but that’s why we play 162 [games],” Falter said. “We’ll get back after it tomorrow and we’ll get these guys.”