BASEBALL MARATHON

Blue Jays lose in 19 innings

The Canada Day fireworks came early on Friday afternoon at the Rogers Centre.

As such, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion were long gone — they could have gone home, showered, had dinner and returned to the park — by the time the Jays and Cleveland Indians were done playing baseball.

Ejected in the first inning, Encarnacion and Gibbons missed almost all of the 19-inning marathon.

It ended 2-1 in favour of the Indians, with the victory coming after Carlos Santana led off the 19th with a solo home run off infielder Darwin Barney (0-1).

That’s right, Barney, who became the 10th position player in franchise history to pitch for the Jays. An inning earlier, it was Ryan Goins toeing the mound after the Jays exhausted the bullpen.

The game, which lasted six hours, 13 minutes, tied the longest in Jays history in innings. On Aug. 10, 2014, Toronto beat Detroit in 19 innings at the Rogers Centre.

The Jays had their chances to win on several occasions, as did the visitors.

Toronto loaded the bases on reliever Joba Chamberlain in the 14th inning, but with two out, Josh Donaldson grounded weakly to first base.

In the 15th, Bo Schultz got Mike Napoli to hit into a double-play, stranding Jason Kipnis at third base.

The 16th inning saw the first two Indians reach base. Schultz then got the next three batters out, with Chris Gimenez lining out to Donaldson to end the threat.

In their half of the 16th, the Jays couldn’t score after Troy Tulowitzki had advanced to third with one out. With Trevor Bauer (7-2) pitching, Barney popped out to shallow centre and Ezequiel Carrera struck out looking.

Schultz, pitching through pain, got through the 17th, facing four Cleveland hitters. And that was it for the bullpen. When Goins took to the mound in the 18th, the fans still in the stadium loved it and stood and cheered to show their support. The Indians loaded the bases, but Goins got Gimenez to hit into a doubleplay to end the inning.

Encarnacion was ejected after he was called out on strikes by home plate umpire Vic Carapazza. Encarnacion didn’t like the thirdstrike call, argued, and was tossed.

Encarnacion might have bumped Carapazza, so a suspension could be coming.

The Indians, meanwhile, endured to win their 14th in a row, setting a franchise record.

FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS Catcher Russell Martin is held back by Blue Jays coaches as he erupts over home plate umpire Vic Carapazza’s decision to eject him in the 13th inning on Friday.