Play of the Day: Escaping the Eighth Inning (AKA Satan's Asshole)

Have you ever played a baseball video game against the computer and just kicked the living hell out of it?  I remember playing Baseball Stars on my Nintendo where you could name your own players and improve the players as you progressed through the game.  Eventually, you would have a team of greek gods who could do no wrong and the computer just didn't stand a chance.  Any outs were recorded entirely by luck.

I remember putting up ten runs per inning and thinking to myself, "Wow, if this ever really happened, I'd hate to be a fan of the team on the receiving end of this."  Tonight I got to experience that.

When the 8th inning started in Colorado, dinosaurs still ruled the world, or so it seemed.

Here is how it went: Double, Single, Strikeout, Strikeout, Single, Double, Double, pitching change, Triple, Homerun, Single, Double, Homerun, Single, pitching change, Single, Double, Walk, Walk, Flyout.

Eighteen batters came to the plate. Twelve of them scored.

There were eleven straight hits.  That's a major league record.  It was also after two were out.

There were three relievers used and the coaching staff wore a path in the grass between the dugout and the mound.

So today's Play of the Day (nominated by @jjhparker) is the merciful last out of the inning.  The bases were loaded and Clint Barmes was on deck getting ready to bat for the third time in the inning.  Ian Stewart stepped in and damn near made it 21-2.  But instead, Marlon Byrd made the catch in deep centerfield and ended the inning.

Thank the sweet lord.