Four hours and four minutes after Padres starter Tim Stauffer threw the first pitch, mercifully the game came to an end with the Pirates winning 10-3.
Only the die-hards were left in the stands to witness the longest 9-inning home game in team history, surpassing a '95 contest against the Giants by thirteen minutes.
Maybe more remarkable than the time of the game was the pitch count by Padres pitchers. Seven hurlers combined to throw a staggering 249 pitches. The major league average for a 9-inning game by one team is 146.
The Padres also broke a team record for combined hit batsmen in a game. Six players were plunked, three for each team.
Manager Bud Black didn't pull any punches in his postgame press conference, "You play six months, there's gonna be nights like this. You don't see them very often, so when you do it's rather alarming."
Stauffer (2-2), who got shelled in his last start, didn't get out of the third inning. He allowed two runs on four hits after throwing 71 pitches before getting the hook. Stauffer's line was respectable when compared to Nick Vincent's, who lasted just a third of an inning. Vincent came in to pitch the seventh. Four hits, a walk, three earned runs and 35 pitches later he was gone.
The Pirates Jordy Mercer, hitting eighth in manager Clint Hurdle's line-up, scored more runs and had just one less hit than the entire Padres team. He went 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 runs scored. The Pirates out-hit the Padres 16-5.
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The Padres turn to a rookie to stop the bleeding Tuesday night. Jesse Hahn will be making his major league debut. He was 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA pitching in Double-A San Antonio.
