Twelve years ago today, the Blue Jays and Tigers dragged each other through one of the strangest games in franchise history: 19 innings, 6 hours and 37 minutes, and a 6-5 Toronto win that set team records for both innings played and game length. It was the kind of night that kept grinding along until somebody finally blinked.
Toronto got the last word in the 19th, and it started with Munenori Kawasaki, who had entered in the seventh as a pinch-hitter for Ryan Goins and had gone 0-for-5 with a walk before leading off the inning with a single. Jose Reyes then dropped down a bunt, and Rick Porcello’s throw to second sailed wide, putting runners on the corners. After that, the Tigers chose to intentionally walk Melky Cabrera to load the bases for Jose Bautista.
Bautista sent a deep fly ball into the outfield, deep enough for the winning run to score. With the outfield playing shallow, Detroit didn’t even try for the catch, and the play went down as a single.
The Jays had their 6-5 walk-off, and in one of the night’s more unforgettable images, R.A. Dickey ran over and kissed Bautista during the interview afterward.
The comeback was necessary because Toronto spent most of the night chasing. The Blue Jays fell behind 3-0 in the first and 5-0 by the fourth, then started clawing back.
In the sixth, Danny Valencia doubled with two outs and Dioner Navarro followed with a homer to get two runs back. In the seventh, Steven Tolleson walked and Colby Rasmus singled, ending David Price’s night after six innings.
Price allowed five hits, four earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts. After Phil Coke entered, Reyes singled home Tolleson and Cabrera singled home Rasmus before Al Alburquerque came in to finish the inning and pitch the next.
The ninth inning brought another burst of drama. Joba Chamberlain took over, Anthony Gose opened with a single while pinch-hitting for Tolleson, and after Rasmus struck out, Gose tried to take second on the two-strike pitch.
He was initially ruled out, but replay overturned the call and kept Toronto alive. After Kawasaki lined out, Reyes singled home Gose to tie the game.
It stayed that way for another 9.5 innings.
Gose’s role made the night even more memorable because it was his birthday - and he went 2 for 6 on the day after coming into the game in the ninth inning.
Toronto’s offense finished with 17 hits, including eight after the ninth. Detroit had 22 hits, with 11 coming after the ninth.
Reyes went 4 for 9, Cabrera was 3 for 5 with five walks, Valencia, Navarro, Gose and Rasmus each drew two walks, and Nolan Reimold’s 0 for 7 with two walks stood out on the wrong side of the ledger. The Tigers issued five intentional walks, including two each to Cabrera and Bautista and one to Rasmus.
Toronto also intentionally walked Victor Martinez twice.
The Blue Jays’ pitching story was just as wild. Mark Buehrle started and lasted only 3.1 innings, giving up nine hits and five runs, though only two were earned.
He walked none and struck out four, with a Jose Reyes error in the first inning proving costly. From there, the bullpen took over and somehow kept the Tigers quiet for 15.2 scoreless innings.
Toronto used seven relievers: Todd Redmond went 2.2 innings with one hit, two walks and two strikeouts; Aaron Sanchez threw three innings, allowing one hit with three strikeouts; Brett Cecil worked 1.1 innings and gave up two hits with three strikeouts; Dustin McGowan logged 1.1 innings with one hit, one walk and one strikeout; Aaron Loup got one batter before the three-batter rule existed; Casey Janssen pitched one inning with one hit and one walk; and Chad Jenkins delivered six innings of his own, allowing seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Jenkins was one of the game’s biggest heroes, even though he spent much of his outing pitching in and out of trouble. He had only one clean inning, but it held up. It also turned out to be one of the final chapters of his MLB career, as he would appear in just three more games for Toronto - one four days later and two the next season.
Looking back, the bullpen handling stood out too. In a game that tight and that long, the kind where extra innings can spiral far past the ninth, the relievers were often asked to cover multiple frames.
By the time Jenkins entered, he was the last available option, though R.A. Dickey could have been used if necessary.
That kind of marathon is much rarer now with the extra-innings “Manfred Man” rule in place.
There was another Jays note from 17 years ago today as well: J.P. Ricciardi placed Alex Rios on waivers.
Rios was owed $60 million at the time and had put together a .264/.317/.427 line with 14 home runs that season. The White Sox claimed him, and Chicago did not send anything back, leaving Ricciardi to let him go in a move that became controversial because it amounted to giving away a former All-Star for salary relief.
Rios later spent five seasons with the White Sox, batting .269/.310/.430 with 74 home runs, then played for the Rangers and Royals before retiring in 2015. His career numbers finished at .277/.321/.434 with 169 home runs and 253 stolen bases. He did have two excellent seasons in 2006 and 2007, when he hit .299/.352/.505 with 41 homers combined, but he never quite became the star many expected.
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