Why That Matters:

–  Mariano Rivera of the NY Yankees (or “Mo” as the fans refer to him) – the best pitching closer in the league – gave up a hit to Nate Freiman in the 18th inning which brought in the game winning run for the Oakland A’s

–  This win gave the A’s (who are currently leading their division) their 11th win in a row at home, which takes them to an impressive 41-27 win-loss record (the 2nd best in all of Major League Baseball)

–  The Yankees are now on a 3 game losing streak and have dropped to 3rd place in their division (one of the most competitive divisions in baseball)

–  Out of the 13 times the Yankees had men on 2nd &/or 3rd base (“runners in scoring position”) – they only had 1 hit (Robinson Cano’s 2-run home run in the 1st inning)…. AKA Yanks had plenty of opportunities to win this game, but didn’t capitalize

Other Tidbits:

–  In his 19-year career, this is the first time Mo has pitched in the 18th inning (it is very rare for a closer to be saved for that late in the game)

–  An average 9-inning baseball game will last approximately 3 hrs – the A’s and Yanks played last night for 5 hrs 35 mins (the longest game in MLB History was in 1984 – 8 hrs 6 mins)