Angels farm team prevails, 24-19, in record-setting game that takes almost 5 hours
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
At times scoring has been a bit of a problem for the Angels this season. Not so for some of the organization’s minor league affiliates.
On Saturday the Inland Empire 66ers, the Angels’ new Class A affiliate in the California League, scored 24 runs -- including five in the ninth inning to break a 19-19 tie -- and beat the Bakersfield Blaze, 24-19, in Bakersfield.
At 4 hours 55 minutes, the game was the longest nine-inning contest in league history.
Want some more numbers? The Angels’ San Bernardino-based team pounded out 31 hits -- 10 for extra bases -- and scored 10 times in the sixth inning alone. Two players -- infielders Jean Segura and Dillon Baird -- had five hits each and two others had four apiere for the 66ers, who saw every starter collect as least two hits.
Baird finished 5 for 5 with four runs scored, five runs batted in and two homers. He also walked twice, raising his batting average 105 points to .371. Dwayne Bailey, who came in batting .077, had a big night as well with a triple, double and five RBIs. Now if they could only improve their fielding -- the 66ers made five errors, four on throws.
And if you’re wondering, no, the wind apparently had nothing to do with it. The official scorer listed a slight breeze at 4 mph at game time, with a temperature of 72 degrees.
The final score nearly matched the listed attendance of 826.
-- Kevin Baxter in Chicago