Twenty innings. Think about that for a second. That is not just a long baseball game; it is basically two full games plus a stressful commute home packed into one single afternoon and evening at Citi Field. When the Marlins and Mets met on June 8, 2013, nobody expected a historic marathon. Honestly, by the time the seventeenth inning rolled around, most people in the stands were probably just wondering if the stadium lights were going to hold out or if the concessions were ever going to restock the hot dogs.
It was a grueling, weird, and ultimately exhausting display of National League baseball.
The Marlins won 2-1. That’s the box score reality. But the box score doesn't tell you about the desperation. It doesn't capture the feeling of watching professional athletes, who are paid millions of dollars, look like they are playing a game of slow-pitch softball in the backyard because they are so physically spent. This game lasted six hours and 25 minutes. If you started watching at the first pitch, you could have flown from New York to London in the time it took to find a winner.
Why the Marlins Mets June 8 2013 Marathon Still Matters
Baseball is a game of averages, but every so often, the math just breaks. On this specific Saturday in Queens, the math shattered into a million pieces. The "Marlins Mets June 8 2013" matchup is frequently cited by historians and stat-heads not because it was a clinic in offensive explosion, but because it was a clinic in missed opportunities.
The Mets left 19 runners on base. Let that sink in. Nineteen times, a New York player stood 90 feet, 180 feet, or 270 feet away from ending the nightmare, and nineteen times, they failed. It felt like some sort of cosmic joke.
The Pitching Performances You Forgot
Everyone remembers the length, but the quality of pitching early on was actually decent. Shaun Marcum started for the Mets. He was gritty. He went seven innings and gave up just one run. On the other side, Kevin Slowey was doing his thing for Miami, tossing seven innings of one-run ball himself. It was a 1-1 game heading into the eighth. Standard stuff.
Then the bullpens took over, and the game entered a vacuum.
For the next 12 innings, neither team could buy a run. It wasn't just good pitching; it was an odd mix of tentative hitting and incredible defensive luck. Steve Cishek, the Marlins closer at the time, worked two innings. The Mets used LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Rice, Bobby Parnell, and eventually, everyone else they had in the shed.
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The Weirdness of the Extra Innings
By the 15th inning, the crowd had thinned out significantly, leaving only the die-hards and the people who had fallen asleep in the upper deck. It’s a strange atmosphere when a stadium is 80% empty but the tension is 100% full. You can hear individual fans yelling. You can hear the catchers’ mitts popping from the nosebleeds.
There was a moment in the 13th where it looked like the Mets had it. They didn't. Then the 18th. Nope.
The hero—or the person who finally decided we all needed to go home—was Adeiny Hechavarria. In the top of the 20th, he hit a single that drove in Placido Polanco. It wasn't a majestic home run. It wasn't a "shot heard 'round the world." It was a line drive that felt like a mercy killing.
The Mets had one last chance in the bottom of the 20th. They didn't score. They went down 1-2-3 against Steve Ames, who earned his first career save in a game that felt like it had been going on since the Taft administration.
Survival of the Fittest (or the Luckiest)
When you look at the Marlins Mets June 8 2013 box score, the strikeout numbers are staggering. The teams combined for 28 strikeouts. They combined for 23 hits over 20 innings, which is actually a remarkably low number when you consider how many plate appearances took place.
Basically, the hitters were hacking at anything.
- Total Pitches: 579. That is an absurd amount of stress on arms.
- Mets Hitters: Rick Ankiel went 0-for-7. Lucas Duda went 0-for-7. Ruben Tejada went 0-for-7.
- The Iron Man: Juan Pierre, the legendary speedster for the Marlins, had nine at-bats. Nine!
It’s easy to forget that this was a June game. It wasn't a playoff race. The Marlins were struggling. The Mets were mediocre. Yet, they played with the intensity of a Game 7 because no one wanted to be the guy who let the other team finally leave the park.
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What People Get Wrong About Long Games
People often think 20-inning games are "classics." Usually, they are actually pretty bad baseball. Errors increase as fatigue sets in. Focus slips. Managers start looking at their backup catchers and wondering if they can throw a 85-mph fastball just to save the bullpen for tomorrow.
Terry Collins, the Mets manager at the time, was famously frustrated. You could see it on his face in the dugout. He was burned out. His pitchers were burned out. The Marlins manager, Mike Redmond, wasn't much happier, despite the win. Winning a 20-inning game is like winning a marathon where the prize is just being allowed to sit down.
The Statistical Anomalies
This game is a goldmine for "weird baseball" enthusiasts.
Because the game went so long, the Mets' Shaun Marcum actually pitched in relief two days later. That’s how much the roster was gutted. The June 8 game forced the Mets to call up reinforcements immediately. It shifted the trajectory of their rotation for the next two weeks.
Also, consider the fans. If you stayed for the whole thing, you saw more baseball in one day than most people see in a month. You saw 14 different pitchers. You saw the equivalent of a double-header and a half.
Lessons From the 20-Inning Grind
If you’re a baseball fan looking back at the Marlins Mets June 8 2013 event, there are a few real takeaways that apply to how we watch the game today.
First, this is exactly why the "Ghost Runner" rule was eventually implemented in extra innings. While purists hate the runner on second, games like this are the reason it exists. Major League Baseball realized that 20-inning games destroy bullpens for weeks. They aren't sustainable. They are outliers that cause injuries and roster chaos.
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Second, it reminds us of the value of the "utility man." In long games, the guy who can play three different positions becomes the most valuable person on the roster.
Lastly, it shows the mental grit of middle relievers. Guys like Burke Badenhop for the Marlins, who threw five innings of scoreless relief starting in the 15th, are the unsung heroes. He didn't get the win, but he saved the team.
How to Dig Deeper into Baseball History
If this marathon game fascinates you, you should check out the Baseball-Reference page for June 8, 2013. The play-by-play is a comedy of errors and missed chances.
You should also look into the longest games in MLB history. While 20 innings is long, it doesn't touch the 26-inning affair between the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves in 1920. But in the modern era, with modern pitching velocities and specialized bullpens, 20 innings is a massive feat of endurance.
Next Steps for the Die-Hard Fan:
Analyze the box score to see the specific sequence of the 13th inning; the Mets had the bases loaded with one out and failed to score. Study the pitching usage of the 2013 Marlins following this game; they had to make several roster moves within 24 hours to cover the innings lost. Finally, compare the pace of play in 2013 to current 2026 standards; the pitch clock has virtually guaranteed we will never see a six-hour, 20-inning game again, making this a relic of a bygone era.