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Mariano Rivera played his final regular season game at Oakland's O.Co Coliseum on Thursday, and it's probably one he'd like to forget.
Rivera — baseball's all-time saves leader who is planing to retire at season's end — gave up the game-winning single in the 18th inning of a marathon between his New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics. Nate Freiman singled to left field, plating John Jaso for a 3-2 victory. The win gave the first-place A's a three-game sweep of the Yankees.
Among the odd/impressive/interesting happenings in the game:
• Lots of zeroes: The Yankees scored their two runs in the first inning. The A's scored their first two in the third. That left a lot of time before the A's scored again in the 18th. It's actually not the longest game the A's played this season, though. You might recall they played a 19-inning game on April 29, that crept over into April 30. They beat the Angels in that game 10-8.
• Yankee futility: The Yankees fourth-eighth hitters — Mark Teixeira, Travis Hafner, Kevin Youkilis and Vernon Wells — were a combined 0-for-28 in the game with three walks. Total, they left 20 men on base.
• A near finish: The A's almost won the game in the 15th when Coco Crisp singled and Brandon Moss tried to score from second base. Vernon Wells gunned him out at the plate, but not without Moss trying to break it up. He collided with Yankees catcher Chris Stewart, who held onto the ball despite a big impact with a big man.
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• Leaving on a sour note: Mariano Rivera actually won his first game in Oakland. That happened on May 28, 1995. His final game? Well, he didn't take the loss, but he didn't end it in typical Mo Rivera fashion either.
MORE SCORES
Orioles 5, Red Sox 4: It wasn't quite the Yankees-A's game, but Baltimore and Boston went into the 13th inning before Chris Davis won the game with a single that drove in Nick Markakis.
Cubs 6, Reds 5: In this 14-inning affair, the Cubs got a pinch-hit single from Julio Borbon to win the game.
Cardinals 2, Mets 1: Adam Wainwright wins. Matt Harvey and this dude both lose.
Royals 10, Rays 1: Holy George Brett! The Royals scored eight runs in the sixth inning while routing the Rays.
Nationals 5, Rockies 4: Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond led the Nats offensively, while the Rockies had Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki left the game with injuries.
Blue Jays 3, Rangers 1: Yu Darvish struck out nine in seven innings, but the Blue Jays got to the Rangers bullpen, scoring two in the eighth to win.
Phillies 3, Twins 2: Cliff Lee was baffling the first 6 1/3 innings, giving up only one hit. The Twins scored two in the seventh, but Philly countered with two more in the eighth to win.
''I took a few swings late in the game where I was just swinging way too hard, trying to win it with one swing instead of just trying to put the ball in play,'' he said. ''Good things happen when you simplify it.'' — Chris Davis on his game-winning hit.
During sim game, James Shields steps into the cage against @DAVIDprice14...and calls his shot: pic.twitter.com/xksG4lUmds
— Jonathan Gantt (@Jonathan_Gantt) June 13, 2013
Shields isn't pitching for the Royals in his return to Tampa, but he is having fun with an old teammate.— Jonathan Gantt (@Jonathan_Gantt) June 13, 2013
• Before Thursday, the last time there were three 13-inning (or longer) games in the same day? July 7, 2007.
• Mat Latos hasn't taken a loss in the last 21 starts. That dates back to August of 2012. He's 6-0 so far this season after a no-decision against the Cubs on Thursday.
• Adam Wainwright is the first pitcher to 10 wins this season. He also struck out his 1,000th batter in Thursday's game.
Baseball is back. Don't miss anything.
Follow @MikeOz and @bigleaguestew, on Twitter, along with the BLS Facebook page.
Follow @MikeOz and @bigleaguestew, on Twitter, along with the BLS Facebook page.