Giant Comeback Out Of Nowhere Spoils Nomo's Debut

May 2, 1995
Giants 4, Dodgers 3, 15 innings

LA  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 3
SF  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 4

Today's Boxscore

This is one of the most unlikely comebacks I've seen. No runs for almost five hours--14 innings worth of zeroes. Los Angeles pitching has allowed only five hits. None of their seven pitchers has yielded more than a single hit each, including Hideo Nomo in his ML debut. The effort is wasted because San Francisco has nearly matched them.

Finally, the Dodger offense explodes for three runs in the 15th. Then Rob Murphy comes in and retires the first two Giants in the bottom of the 15th. So what are the chances that the Giants score four runs without making an out after making 44 outs without scoring? Pretty darn low. Verrry low. Extreeemely low. Well, the next five batters go like this: walk, single, home run, single, double. Game over!!

Notes:

• This is the most runs scored in an extra inning of a previously scoreless game, and the 15th inning is the latest it has occurred, at least since 1969.


• Before finishing with four consecutive hits, Giant hitters had gone 5-46 (.109).


• The teams used 17 pitchers, who combined for 33 strikeouts.


• There were eight pinch-hitters and two pinch-runners used.


• The line score was anemic at the end of regulation:
  

      R  H  E
  LA  0  5  0
  SF  0  2  0

• According to the boxscore, there were 46 players used in the game, inlcuding 25 by LA (9 pitchers and 16 position players). How is this possible? Seven of the nine pitchers were exclusively relievers, so they must have had a 12-man pitching staff. And there was no Dontrelle-style pitcher pinch-hitting, so how could there have been 16 non-pitchers on the roster? Were rosters expanded because of the late start to the 1995 season? I can't remember...anyone?