Belt wears title for longest AB
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Angels rookie right-hander Jaime Barria kept throwing strikes and the Giants’ Brandon Belt kept fouling them off and fouling them off and fouling them off and fouling them off.
Neither Barria or Belt was about to give in. Mike Trout and the other Angels outfielders began looking at each other in amazement as the second atbat of the game dragged on. The crowd buzzed as Belt peppered the second deck behind home plate and even the seats down the right-field line with souvenirs.
Belt hit 11 consecutive balls into the crowd on a full count, hanging in for an epic 21-pitch at-bat before lining out to right fielder Kole Calhoun.
Belt later homered to lead Johnny Cueto and the Giants over the Angels 4-2 on Sunday.
“I wasn’t going to give it up and the pitcher wasn’t either,” Belt said. “It made for a good battle. If it helped get me a little bit locked in for later in the game, it was worth it.”
It was the longest at-bat in the majors since such records began in 1988. The previous high of 20 pitches in a plate appearance since 1988 was when Houston’s Ricky Gutierrez struck out against Cleveland’s Bartolo Colon on June 26, 1998, according to Retrosheet.
In all, the left-handed Belt fouled off 16 pitches, ending an at-bat the Giants said lasted 12 minutes, 45 seconds.