Kyle Gibson said it was about the 12th inning that he and his Twins teammates had that feeling that they were in another marathon game.
That "not again" feeling.
"Really, about the 12th," he said. "That starts up early. Especially with the 17 innings so fresh."
Nine days after winning a 17-inning game over Boston, the Twins grappled with Tampa Bay for 18 innings Thursday, another bullpen-depleting, concentration-challenging game at Target Field that tested the patience of fans and the resilience of the two teams. The endings weren't the same, however, as the Rays scored three runs in the 18th off Ryne Harper to pull out a 5-2 victory.
For the Rays, they managed to avoid being swept in the three-game series but still headed home after a 3-7 road trip. For the Twins, they have to find the right path to help them move forward after striking out 22 times — setting a club record for both the Twins hitters and Rays pitching staff.
"It's remarkable. It's a little bit unfortunate. It's a little bit beautiful," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "It's a little bit of everything. And we have seen both sides of it."
Baldelli met with Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine immediately following the game to figure out how many arms they needed to call up after tying a club record by using 10 pitchers Thursday. That included Gibson, who threw 11 pitches in the 17th inning — his first relief appearance in 175 major league outings.
"This is coming off of where it wasn't too long ago we had a game like this," Baldelli said. "Those games do affect you in a lot of different ways and they cause you to make moves, some of the moves that you wish you didn't have to make, but I think we're going to have to do that and give ourselves some help in the bullpen."
Harper, pitching in his third game in a row, replaced Gibson and quickly found himself in a bases-loaded, no-outs situation. The Rays cashed in with a sacrifice fly by Yandy Diaz and RBI singles by Willy Adames and Ji-Man Choi. The Twins got a leadoff single by Jake Cave in the bottom of the 18th, but was stranded as Tampa Bay won a game that lasted 5 hours, 42 minutes — the sixth-longest game in terms of time in club history. The 18 innings are the most in Target Field history, besting the 4-3, 17-inning victory over Boston June 18.
And don't forget that the day began with a 57-minute rain delay.
Jorge Polanco scored on Mitch Garver's groundout, then Nelson Cruz scored on a two-out single by Luis Arraez as the Twins took a 2-0 lead. But Twins lefthander Martin Perez gave up RBI singles to Michael Brousseau and Guillermo Heredia the next inning as Tampa Bay tied the score.
Who knew then that two games worth of innings would be played? No one scored between the second and 18th, the most innings between runs in an AL game since Sept. 1, 1906, between the Philadelphia A's and Boston Americans.
"Great game," Perez said. "We lost, but we fight and try to get hits and score some runs. They threw some better balls the last couple of innings, but that's the game."
Who knew then that the mighty Twins offense would have only nine hits over 18 innings and not hit a ball out of the infield from the fifth through the 12th?
"When you play those games and you come out on top, there are few better feelings," Baldelli said. "And when you don't, it was a long day."
