Red Sox survive 19-inning marathon against Yankees

Baseball can be a ruthless sport, both for the players on the field and sometimes for the people watching it.

Mookie Betts ended the longest game-by-time in Red Sox history with a sacrifice fly in the 19th inning to give Boston a 6-5 win over the New York Yankees early Saturday morning.

The game, which officially took six hours 49 minutes to play but also involved a 16-minute delay, was also the second-longest by time in Yankees' franchise history.

Both teams combined for 32 hits and an error each in front of a crowd of disappointed, sleepy Yankees fans who finally left after Garrett Jones grounded into a tight double play.

David Ortiz thought he had the game winner for Boston with a monster solo shot in the 16th inning, but Mark Teixeira answered with a homer of his own to keep the marathon going.

Boston again took the lead in the 18th on an RBI single by Pablo Sandoval. But anyone hoping to go to bed was forced back into their seat after Carlos Beltran doubled in pinch-runner John Ryan Murphy from third to tie the game at five.

The game would have ended 3-2 in favour of Boston had Chase Headley not hit a solo home run off Edward Mujica with the Yankees down to their final out in the ninth inning.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

The game trudged on into the 12th when even Yankee Stadium itself wanted to go home - a bank of lights went out, forcing a 16-minute delay. 

Teixeira meanwhile was 34 when the game started and turned 35 at midnight with over two hours of baseball left to play.

Everyone suffered. Here's home plate umpire Marty Foster taking an errant pitch to the groin in the 18th inning:

Both Wade Miley and Nathan Eovaldi were strong in their debuts. Miley allowed two runs off four hits while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings for the Red Sox while the hard-throwing Eovaldi allowed three runs off eight hits in 5 1/3 innings for the Yankees. 

But Miley and Eovaldi were both distant memories by the time the game ended. The Red Sox needed nine pitchers to survive the game. Knuckleballer Steven Wright pitched the final five innings, allowing two earned runs including Teixeira's homer on six hits.

The Yankees meanwhile used eight pitchers in the game, and relied heavily on Esmil Rogers who matched Wright to the end with 4 2/3 innings pitched.

For all their effort, neither team will get a full night of sleep - both teams were scheduled to play again Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET.