Phillies top Reds in 19 innings
Infielder Valdez gets win with scoreless inning of relief
PHILADELPHIA – The second pitch Wilson Valdez threw to Joey Votto was a 90 mph fastball popped foul. Third baseman Carlos Ruiz chased the ball until he flipped over the rolled-up tarp.
Oh, this was just the beginning. Six hours and 11 minutes after it began, Raul Ibanez hit a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Jimmy Rollins. It was over at 1:19 a.m. EDT this morning.
Phillies 5, Reds 4 (19 innings).
At some point, the Phillies decided winning this game was less important than to risk injuring one of the three aces not named Halladay who had yet to pitch. So Danys Baez was asked to throw until his arm fell off. He did this quite well.
And then when that wasn’t enough, the Phillies turned to Valdez, their wonky second baseman, to pitch the 19th. He retired the side on three fly balls, allowing only Scott Rolen to reach on a hit by pitch. He jogged off the mound before the final out was caught with a huge smirk on his face and was mobbed by his teammates. Valdez was the first position player to win a game as a pitcher since Colorado’s Brent Mayne in 2000.