DETROIT – In the opener of the first seven-inning doubleheader in Major League Baseball history, Shogo Akiyama hit an RBI single in the seventh that sent the Cincinnati Reds over the Detroit Tigers 4-3 Sunday.It was strange from the start — the scoreboard at Comerica Park listed nine innings instead of the usual seven.There was no seventh-inning stretch — or even fifth-inning break — in a game that took 2 hours, 26 minutes.
The start of the game was delayed more than two hours because of rain.MLB recently decided to use doubleheaders of seven-inning games, which have been commonplace in the minor leagues and colleges, to help teams alleviate an expected crush of twinbills in the shortened, 60-day season caused by weather and virus-related.