Even Pittsburgh third baseman Pedro Alvarez was starting to lose focus in the later stages of the Pirates' 6-3, 19-inning win over the Cardinals on Sunday in St. Louis.
"I was getting a little stagnant out there," he said. "It's one of those things where it's mind over matter. You've just got to fight and keep that desire going."
Alvarez played a big role in ending the marathon with his 23rd homer. The drive broke a 3-3 tie as the Pirates won the longest game in the majors this season.
It took 6 hours, 7 minutes to finish, tying the longest contest by time, matching a game between Baltimore and Boston on May 6.
Both teams scored a run in the 17th, and each club used eight pitchers.
Alvarez, who was hitless through the first 18 innings, homered off Barret Browning. Andrew McCutchen added a two-run single later in the inning to help the Pirates move two games ahead of St. Louis in the race for the last wild-card spot in the N.L.
Wandy Rodriguez, who was set to start for the Pirates on Monday night at San Diego, got the win with two scoreless innings of relief. It was his first win as a reliever in 232 major league appearances.
"That was a backyard tug-of-war," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "We kept playing defense, we kept pitching. At the end of the day, we finally got some separation in the 19th inning.
About 9,000 fans from the original crowd of 43,412 stayed until the end.
Each team had
played a marathon in recent years. St. Louis went 20 innings against the New York Mets on April 17, 2010, and Pittsburgh played 19 innings at Atlanta on July 26, 2011.Red Sox: Carl Crawford appears to be headed for season-ending, ligament-replacement surgery on his left elbow.
The Boston Red Sox said Sunday that they planned to decide Monday on whether the left fielder will have Tommy John surgery. Citing an anonymous source, ESPN reported hours later that Crawford is expected to have the operation Tuesday.
Crawford has been playing with pain since coming off the disabled list last month. He has said he's been told he will need Tommy John surgery at some point to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm.
Crawford was in the starting lineup Sunday night against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox are off Monday.
Astros: Tony DeFrancesco was named as interim manager a day after Houston fired Brad Mills and two of his coaches.
DeFrancesco managed Oklahoma City to a 67-60 record and had the RedHawks contending for a playoff spot this season. Houston has the worst record in the major leagues at 39-83.
Hitting coach Mike Barnett and first base coach Bobby Meacham were let go along with Mills. Dan Radison will take over in the interim as first base coach, and Ty Van Burkleo will be the hitting coach.
Rockies: Outfielder Michael Cuddyer was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a right oblique strain.
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