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Cubs enjoy extra-special wins: Early season marathons place Chicago in rare company.

By: Carrie Muskat, Mlb.com.

PITTSBURGH — Matt Sinatro’s feet hurt. That’s what back-to-back extra-inning games will do to a first-base coach.

Sinatro, the Cubs’ first-base coach, had a shorter walk from the dugout than third-base coach Mike Quade at PNC Park, but Monday’s 12-inning game and Wednesday’s 15-inning affair are tough on the tootsies.

“My feet were killing me,” Sinatro said Thursday.

In two games, the Cubs and Pirates played 9 hours and 7 minutes of baseball, combining to throw 1,116 pitches (466 on Monday, 650 on Wednesday), total 48 hits and strand 48 baserunners. The Cubs were 10-for-43 with runners in scoring position.

“It’s baseball,” Quade said. “You’re going to see some crazy stuff.”

The last time the Cubs played back-to-back games of at least 12 innings was in 2004 when they lost to Cincinnati on Sept. 29 in 12 innings (4-3 final) and again on Sept. 30 in 12 (2-1 final).

The last time they played consecutive games of at least 12 innings on the road was Aug. 22-23, 1980, at Houston, where the Cubs lost, 3-2 and 1-0, respectively. The second game went 17 innings.

The Cubs have won both extended games against Pittsburgh. The last time they won back-to-back games of at least 12 innings was May 23-24, 1987, when they beat the Braves. Chicago beat Atlanta, 7-6, in 16 innings on the first day, and won, 3-2, in 12 on May 24.

The last time the Cubs won consecutive extra-inning games of at least 12 innings on the road was in 1927. The Cubs beat Boston, 7-2, in 18 innings on May 14, then outlasted Boston, 4-3, in 22 innings on May 17.

Wednesday’s 15-inning win marked only the second time the Cubs have won a game of 14 or more innings in Pittsburgh. On May 7, 1957, the Cubs beat the Pirates, 10-8, in 14 innings. Chicago scored four times in the 14th, keyed by a two-run single by former Pirate Dale Long. Pittsburgh scored two runs in the bottom of the 14th.

And one more bit of Cubs trivia, courtesy of unofficial historian Ed Hartig: Aramis Ramirez’s homer in the 14th on Wednesday was the 14th home run hit in the 14th or later. The last player to connect that late in a game was Sammy Sosa, who homered in the 15th against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 2, 2003.

Hall of Famer Billy Williams is the only Cub to do so twice, hitting a homer against the New York Mets in the 14th inning on June 26, 1963; and connecting in the 15th against Cincinnati on Aug. 11, 1968.

Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster had sympathy for Kerry Wood, who served up Jason Bay’s game-tying homer in the ninth on Wednesday. Dempster was a closer for three seasons. He knows.

“[Fans] expect them to be perfect in one-run games, and it’s not the easiest thing in the world,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of closers. “You’re going to give up runs from time to time. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Kerry. Last night, he gave up a home run but he gave it up to one of their better hitters.”

Wood retired the next three batters he faced.

“That’s what you want to see,” Piniella said. “If he hadn’t [done that], we would’ve only played nine and lost.”

Kevin Hart picked up the win in relief and also scored the game-winning run. He’s the first pitcher to do both in extra innings since Arizona’s Brandon Lyon on Aug. 25, 2006, against the Dodgers.

“We won, and that’s all that matters,” said Hart, who gave up a game-tying two-run homer to Adam LaRoche in the 14th, then scored the game-winning run on Felix Pie’s single in the 15th.

When Hart walked back to the team hotel Wednesday, he had time to think about the strange night.

“It could’ve been worse,” Hart said. “I could’ve done that at [Triple-A] Iowa.”

Pity the Pirates. They’ve played four extra-inning games in their first eight.

“That’s one thing I’m impressed with — that these guys aren’t quitting,” Pirates manager John Russell said. “It has to start equating to wins. If we keep giving ourselves a chance like that, good things will happen.”

Late in the game Wednesday, Piniella exchanged a few words with some fans behind the Cubs dugout.

“About the 14th inning, three young men had enough beers,” Piniella said. “I told them to watch the game, nothing more.”

Were they Cubs fans?

“No,” Piniella said. “Pittsburgh fans.”