Cervelli's lunge puts signature tag on wild game

DETROIT — "I got it," Francisco Cervelli declared, beaming in front of his locker stall Friday night. Cervelli expressed that same confidence to home plate umpire Tony Randazzo hours earlier. However, he did so with angst because it appeared he was unable to apply a tag on time, allowing the Tigers to earn a walk-off victory on opening day.

Nicholas Castellanos was ruled safe in the 10th inning when Cervelli attempted to tag him to prevent the winning run, causing the Tigers' players to run out of the dugout and mob JaCoby Jones at second base. But video review determined Cervelli "definitively" tagged Castellanos before crossing home plate, and the Pirates eventually escaped with a 13-10 win in 13 innings.

Cervelli insists he had no doubt he applied the tag, and his teammates agreed, although most people in the ballpark were sure the game had ended.

"You don’t have a lot of time to think too much," Cervelli explained. "You just have to execute. I have two choices: stay there and let the ball go to the bag, or go get it and jump and try to tag him. That’s the thing. Every game is important. Every play is important."

With the score tied, Castellanos reached on a fielder's choice with two outs in the 10th and advanced to second on a wild pitch by reliever Josh Smoker. Then, Jones, a third-round draft pick of the Pirates in 2013, hit a fly ball to shallow left that dropped in for a base hit. Corey Dickerson quickly collected the ball and threw to home plate. See for yourself:

The ball was hit hard enough to allow Dickerson to get momentum behind the throw home and although he thought the throw had a chance to beat Castellanos home, he wasn't entirely sure if it would be accurate enough.

"I thought it was going to be close, especially after it got in the air and I saw the flight path of it," Dickerson, making his first start for the Pirates in left field, said. "I thought it would be pretty close. It had a topspin, so I wasn’t able to come through it normally, but I felt like I got it out in time. I wasn't sure what would happen with the review."

As you can see, the throw was well off the mark. Cervelli was positioned inside the baseline, forcing him to move to his left to prevent the ball from reaching the backstop. Upon catching the ball, he lunged to his right to apply the tag on time.

"You wait to see what they say in New York," Clint Hurdle said. "Dickerson got to the ball quickly and got rid of it. The throw was in a vicinity where the smart thing done by Cervelli was he caught the ball and so many times you’ll see the catcher try to make the quick tag and not even glove the ball. We played catch from a long distance, and it turned out to be a pivotal play."

Both Cervelli's explanation afterwards and video review showed Castellanos did not tag home plate with his lead foot. Instead, his back foot was the first to reach home plate, allowing Cervelli the split-second he needed.

Josh Bell, standing at first base as the play unfolded, said he was initially surprised when Castellanos was ruled safe and didn't think the game was over, despite the fact the Tigers were celebrating on the field. Cervelli, though, wasn't so sure. He pled for a review with Randazzo, who was serving as the home plate umpire after Mike Everitt was hit by a pitch earlier in the game, but Cervelli thought it was unlikely since the game was in extra innings and it was the home team that scored the run.

"That was my only concern because extra innings, first game of the year," Cervelli said. "I’m not saying this is not important. Every game is important, every at-bat is important. But I won. Again."

Cervelli winning gave the Pirates a second chance, and Gregory Polanco took advantage in the 13th inning by hitting a three-run homer to right-center field, giving them a three-run lead they would not relinquish:

Both Bell and Dickerson said they had not been part of a game quite like this. It lasted five hours and 27 minutes, and each team only had one reliever left in the bullpen when the final out was recorded. Eight runs were scored between the two teams in the ninth inning, and they combined for 31 hits on a chilly, sun-soaked afternoon.

But Polanco and the Pirates would not have been in position to complete the comeback had it not been for the play that almost didn't happen.

"Stopping that run allowed Polanco to shine there to put us on top," Dickerson said. "It showed everyone is still in it to win it."