WASHINGTON -- Starling Marte hit a solo home run in the 18th inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 2-1 Sunday in a marathon game that lasted almost six hours.
Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy hit a home run with two outs in the ninth inning for Washington, and it took a while until anyone scored again.
Marte's seventh home run of the season helped end the series finale and the Pirates avoid getting swept by the NL East leaders. The only longer game in the majors this season came July 1 when Cleveland beat Toronto in 19 innings.
Marte made sure this wouldn't go 19 by taking the first pitch from Oliver Perez (2-3) and sending it into the seats in left field. Jonathon Niese (8-6) survived two singles to get the victory.
It was the longest regular-season game since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals. The Nationals lost an 18-inning game to San Francisco in the 2014 playoffs.
By the time the 12:35 p.m. Central start ended at 6:23 p.m., stellar outings by Pittsburgh's Chad Kuhl and Washington's Max Scherzer felt like a distant memory.
Making his fourth major league start, Kuhl allowed 1 hit and 2 runners and struck out 5 in 6 shutout innings.
METS 5, PHILLIES 0 Jacob deGrom tossed a one-hitter, Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera hit home runs and visiting New York beat Philadelphia.
MARLINS 6, CARDINALS 3 Ichiro Suzuki doubled, singled twice and had another hit taken away on a replay challenge, leaving him six shy of 3,000, after visiting Miami's victory over St. Louis. Suzuki, 42, made just his second start this month with All-Star Marcell Ozuna getting a day off.
REDS 1, BREWERS 0 Billy Hamilton dashed home on All-Star Jonathan Lucroy's passed ball with two outs in the ninth inning, giving host Cincinnati the victory.
BRAVES 1, ROCKIES 0 Chase d'Arnaud singled with two outs in the ninth inning off Gonzalez Germen and host Atlanta avoided a three-game sweep.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, DODGERS 5 Robbie Ray pitched seven scoreless innings, Jake Lamb hit his 21st home run and host Arizona held on to beat Los Angeles.
PADRES 5, GIANTS 3 Edwin Jackson held San Francisco hitless until Conor Gillaspie's three-run home run with one out in the seventh inning, and host San Diego held off San Francisco for the Padres' first sweep of the season.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
TIGERS 4, ROYALS 2 Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift host Detroit past Kansas City.
RAYS 5, ORIOLES 2 Evan Longoria hit two home runs, Jake Odorizzi picked up his first home victory this season and host Tampa Bay won for just the fourth time in 28 games.
INDIANS 6, TWINS 1 Josh Tomlin pitched 72/3 strong innings, Mike Napoli hit one of three Cleveland home runs in a victory over host Minnesota.
ANGELS 8, WHITE SOX 1 Albert Pujols hit a pair of two-run home runs, Jered Weaver pitched seven strong innings and host Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of Chicago.
ASTROS 8, MARINERS 1 Jose Altuve had a home run among his four hits and drove in three runs, Collin McHugh escaped a pair of bases-loaded jams to pitch six scoreless innings, and visiting Houston beat Seattle.
BLUE JAYS 5, ATHLETICS 3 Josh Donaldson hit a tiebreaking two-run double with two outs in the ninth against his former team and visiting Toronto avoided a three-game sweep.
YANKEES 3, RED SOX 1 Masahiro Tanaka outpitched David Price in their first matchup to win his fourth consecutive decision, and host New York ended Boston's six-game winning streak.
INTERLEAGUE
RANGERS 4, CUBS 1 Cole Hamels pitched eight dominant innings in his first game at Wrigley Field since throwing a no-hitter at the famed ballpark a year ago, and visiting Texas stopped a four-game slide.
Sports on 07/18/2016