ATLANTA (AP) - Julio Lugo scored from third base on a contested
play at the plate, giving the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 win in 19
innings over the Pittsburgh Pirates early Wednesday morning.
The game, which ended at 1:50 a.m., was the longest in Turner
Field history and matched the longest in the major leagues this
season. At 6 hours, 39 minutes, it was the longest by time for both
teams.
Lugo took on Scott Proctor's grounder to third baseman Pedro
Alvarez, whose throw to catcher Michael McKenry easily beat Lugo to
the plate.
Lugo tried to avoid McKenry's tag with a pop-up slide. Replays
indicated McKenry made the tag, but home plate umpire Jerry Meals
called Lugo safe.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle argued the call vigorously,
following Meals off the field as the Braves celebrated.
With one out in the 19th, Daniel McCutchen walked Lugo. Jordan
Schafer followed with a single to center, moving Lugo to third.
With their bench and bullpen depleted, the Braves had to let
Proctor (2-3), their eighth pitcher of the game, hit for himself.
Schafer advanced to second without a throw before Proctor's
grounder led to the final play.
The Phillies and Reds played 19 innings on May 25.
The Pirates' previous longest game was 6:12 at San Diego on Aug.
25, 1979. The Braves' previous longest game by time was 6:10
against the Mets on July 4, 1985, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
The Pirates scored two runs in the first and pushed their lead
to 3-0 in the second on McKenry's homer. The Braves answered with
three runs in the third, and the score remained 3-3 through the
next 15 innings.
Several thousand fans from the announced crowd of 22,036 were
still in the stands in the 19th inning, many standing and chanting.
The Braves lost catcher Brian McCann in the 10th inning when he
strained his left oblique. He will be placed on the 15-day disabled
list on Wednesday.
McCutchen (3-2) gave up one run in 5 1-3 innings.
The Pirates fell one game behind first-place St. Louis in the NL
Central.
The Pirates had a chance to avoid extra innings but wasted a
scoring chance in the ninth. McKenry had an infield single off
Craig Kimbrel and moved to third on pinch-hitter Brandon Wood's
single.
The Braves called a pitchout as Xavier Paul was squaring to bunt
and McKenry was running toward the plate. McKenry stopped too late
and was thrown out at third. Kimbrel struck out Paul to end the
inning.
Atlanta's Chipper Jones, who strained his right quadriceps in
Monday night's game, hit a groundout as a pinch-hitter in the
eighth.
Jones, 39, came off the 15-day disabled list on Monday following
arthroscopic surgery on July 9 to repair torn cartilage in his
right knee.
Nate McLouth and manager Fredi Gonzalez were ejected by Meals in
the ninth. McLouth struck out swinging and then remained at the
plate, apparently to argue a called strike two by Meals. Gonzalez
ran onto the field too late to intervene and keep McLouth in the
game.
NOTES: It was the Pirates' longest game since May 27, 2006, when
they beat Houston 8-7 in 18 innings. It was the Braves' longest
since Oct. 5, 2006, when they won 7-6 at Houston in 18 innings....
McKenry ended the Pirates' streak of 77 innings without a homer
since a shot by Brandon Wood at Houston on July 16. ... Schafer,
still bothered by his jammed left middle finger he hurt Wednesday
in Colorado, was scratched from the Braves' lineup. He entered the
game in the ninth as a defensive replacement in center. ... Pirates
C Ryan Doumit (left ankle sprain) began a rehab assignment with
Triple-A Indianapolis.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)