This is one of those games that felt like it moved through more acts than Wagner’s Ring Cycle. At a tidy three hours and thirty-three minutes, this game fits squarely in Rob Manfred’s “nightmare fuel” bank, partially because of the number of pitching changes (the A’s used a club record NINE pitchers), partially because of the high-scoring nature of the game, and partially because strikeouts take longer than nice first-pitch-swinging groundouts, and the A’s struck out an astounding EIGHTEEN times tonight.
The Fred of Man can rest easy, though, because the last two innings of the game packed more excitement than bungee jumping off the Bay Bridge wearing gasoline pants while smoking a cigar and strapped to a tapir that’s got a snoutful of cocaine.