Giants, Red Sox tie record for most pitchers used and other things to know about San Francisco's first ever win in Boston
The two sides required nearly six hours to play 15 innings
The Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants did not finish their Tuesday night game on Tuesday night. Rather, the pair played well past midnight, with the final out being recorded a little after 1 a.m. Wednesday on the East Coast. Since many folks were asleep when the curtain dropped on what amounted to a nearly six-hour, 15-inning Giants victory, we figured we'd provide the public service of highlighting five things you should know about the marathon game.
1. The two sides tied the record for the most pitchers used
Giants manager Bruce Bochy has a well-earned reputation for making endless pitching changes. Meanwhile, Red Sox skipper Alex Cora is having to constantly mix-and-match because of the state of his pitching staff. As such, it's probably not a surprise to anyone to learn that Bochy and Cora made a lot of pitching changes Tuesday.
More, it turns out, than almost any other game in major league history.
That's right, the Giants and Red Sox combined to use 24 pitchers Tuesday -- or as many as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies used in September 2015, when they set the record:
The Red Sox and Giants have tied an MLB record by using 24 total pitchers tonight. They tied the Dodgers and Rockies from Sept. 15, 2015 https://t.co/XrltzOTgNK
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) September 18, 2019
Neither the Giants nor the Red Sox received great length from their starters -- Logan Webb went five innings, Nathan Eovaldi four innings -- but both sides displayed impatience with how they deployed their relievers.
Of the Giants' 13 pitchers, six faced three batters or fewer -- the minimum they'll have to face beginning next year. Five of Boston's 11 pitchers faced three batters or fewer as well.
In other words, this game was a solid point against expanded rosters.
2. The Giants won their first regular-season game at Fenway
Believe it or not, Tuesday's game marked the first time the San Francisco Giants had ever won a regular-season game at Fenway Park. As Jayson Stark noted on Twitter, the last time the Giants of any iteration won any game in Boston occurred more than 100 years ago -- back in 1915 when the Giants belonged to New York.
The #SFGiants lead the #RedSox, 5-2, in the 6th.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) September 18, 2019
It’s not as if the Giants have never won a game at Fenway.
Heck, they won one as recently as June 3, 1915!
(H/T @EliasSports
The Giants haven't made many trips to Boston over the years. But it's fair to write they haven't fared well when the occasion has presented itself.
3. Bruce Bochy moved closer to a big number
Bochy is, of course, retiring at season's end. He's likely headed to the Hall of Fame already thanks to winning three World Series titles. Yet Tuesday's win was the 1,999th of his career, putting him one away from another big, round number.
If and when Bochy secures his 2,000th win, he'll become the 11th skipper to ever do so -- and the other 10 are already enshrined in Cooperstown. The group includes all the usual suspects. To wit, the four to join the club since the 1980s are the ones you'd suspect: Sparky Anderson, Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre -- a good bunch, as far as managers go.
It's worth noting the Giants would have to go on a mighty tear for Bochy to tie or top Leo Durocher (2,008) for the 10th-most victories ever. There's no shame in finishing 11th.
4. The totals are eye-popping
Let's run through a few of the totals, shall we? The two sides combined for:
113 at-bats
28 hits
50 total players used
24 total pitchers used
547 pitches
Yes, 547 pitches and literally two 25-player rosters were required Tuesday. Is it any wonder the game lasted nearly six hours?
5. What everyone will remember from this game
We already covered it elsewhere, but here's Mike Yastrzemski -- Carl's grandson -- hitting a home run in his first game at Fenway:
A Yastrzemski just homered at Fenway.
— MLB (@MLB) September 18, 2019
Can you believe it? pic.twitter.com/IaEhCDyhwF
Pretty cool, right? That's just how baseball is sometimes.
















