Blue Jays Outlast Indians in Opener

It was Opening Day for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Indians and neither one wanted to lose. The Indians started the scoring in the 2nd inning when they scored four runs, three of which came in on a home run blast by Jack Hannahan. On the mound, Indians starting pitcher Justin Masterson dominated the Blue Jay hitters. He went 8 innings giving up only 2 hits while striking out 10. The Indians elected to bring in their closer Chris Perez in the 9th. Perez couldn't find his stuff as he struggled with his control, and eventually, blew the save. That meant that this game was headed for extras.

Both teams battled back and forth, but no runs could seemingly be scored. In the top of the 16th, Blue Jays relief pitcher Jairo Asencio walked Brett Lawrie. Omar Vizquel managed to reach on a fielder's choice, putting two men on for the Blue Jays. Next up to bat was their young catcher J.P. Arencibia. He came to the plate having gone 0 for 6 with three strikeouts. During his at bat, Arencibia thought he saw the bunt sign from third-base coach Brian Butterfield. His attempt went foul for strike two. This meant Arencibia knew he had to swing at the next pitch. He connected on it in a big way, turning it into a three-run homerun to left. The bomb proved to be the difference as Sergio Santos came in and sealed the victory for the Blue Jays.

Two previous season openers had gone 15 innings, but once this one reached the 16th, it became the longest Opening Day game in MLB history. The game lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes. This game had it all. Moments of greatness, moments of disaster, a bench-clearing, and an unlikely hero. Arencibia, despite struggling before hitting the game-winning home run, seems to like openers. He hit two home runs in his first game in the majors in 2010. He connected for two more last year on Opening Day. Then, he hit the game-winner this year. The teams used a combined 14 pitchers. The stats just go on and on, but the bottomline this was an opener for the ages. A game that will be remember for a very long time.