Today in Jays History: Jays Win in 16 Innings

Eleven Years Ago Today

Jays beat Cleveland in 16 innings, 7 to 4.

It was a record for an extra inning game on opening day.

Cleveland scored four runs in the second inning against Jays Opening Day starter Ricky Romero. But those were the only runs he allowed in 5 innings of work. Cleveland third baseman Jack Hannahan hit a three-run homer in that inning. I remember nothing about Hannahan, but he had an eight-year MLB, playing 614 games (playing for the Tigers, A’s, Mariners and Reds, and Cleveland) with 29 home runs and a .231/.314/.346.

Cleveland wouldn’t score again.

The Jays ran through seven relievers (heck, John Schneider can do that in nine innings. Jason Frasor (1 inning), Darren Oliver (1), Casey Janssen (1), Francisco Cordero (1), Carlos Villanueva (2.1), Luis Perez (4) and Sergio Santos (0.2) all put up zeros on the board.

The Jays got one run in the fourth. Jose Bautista homered.

And then three more in the ninth. Singles from Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson. A sac fly from Bautista. Adam Lind walked. And then Edwin Encarnacion double home two, tying the game. Unfortunately, he was stranded at second.

That was all the scoring until the top of the 16th.

Brett Lawrie led off the inning with a walk. And Omar Vizquel reached base when Cleveland pitcher Jairo Assencio tried to get Lawrie going from first to second.

And then J.P. Arencibia (who was a terrific player on opening day) homered.

From the GameThread (someone named Rincewind wrote it, what a dumb name his parents gave him):

Just wow.

The longest opening day game in baseball history.

So much happened...I don’t know where to start.

Let’s start with Jays of the Day: Luis Perez (.753 WPA) pitched us 4 scoreless innings, he was a little wild, gave up 3 walks, but no hits and no runs along with 3 strikeouts. Edwin Encaracion (.241 WPA) for the double that drove in 2, including the tying run. He thought it was out. I thought it was out, but it hit high off the wall. Jose Bautista (.238 WPA) 3 for 4, including a home run. Kelly Johnson (.178 WPA) 1 for 5, 2 walks. Francisco Cordero (.136 WPA) very important scoreless inning of relief. I’m also giving one to J.P. Arencibia, even though his WPA isn’t high (.024), he tagged out a runner at the plate, on a wild pitch, he threw out a runner stealing, did a great job blocking pitches in the dirt, and there was the game winning homer.

A cool moment that I don’t think would be allowed today. In the 13th inning, Cleveland loaded the bases with one out. Manager John Farrell went with a five-man (with Omar Vizquel coming into the game, replacing Eric Thames), and the Jays turned an inning-ended double play.

The Jays' boxscore:

Cleveland: