Wake Up With Starling Marte Hitting A Game-Winning Home Run In The 18th Inning
This kid right here has a lifetime of riding the baseball rollercoaster of emotions. I envy it. The Pirates used a grand total of 22 players in this game, nine of which were pitchers, while the Nationals called upon 20 players of their own in this 18-inning shitshow. It took just under six hours to get it done, but Starling Marte’s seventh homer of the year in the top of the 18th sealed the deal for the Buccos.
It’s been a very streaky year for the Pirates, as demonstrated by this little guy shown above. Just in the past month, they’ve had a pair of five-game losing streaks, and a seven-game winning streak. I had written the Pirates off when they had lost 13 of 17 at the end of June, but to their credit, they dug themselves out of that hole a bit, and are just 2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot with only the St. Louis Cardinals in front of them by a half game.