This woman is either exhausted from watching 17-innings of lifeless N.L West baseball or she was so disgusted by the untimely hitting that she began vomiting in her right hand. The game went 18-innings on Sunday night, by the way, clocking in at 5 hours and 45 minutes to become the longest MLB game this year. Those loyal Padres fans who stuck around Petco Park couldn't even come away with a win for their seat rashes, as the Fightin' Robed-men lost on a three-run home run by the Diamondbacks' Mark Reynolds in the top of the 18th.

******

Good morning. It's raining. This one's for all the blacksmiths out there.

M.L.B. and InDemand — a consortium that is owned by the cable operators Comcast, Time Warner and Cox — agreed last night to restore Extra Innings swiftly to their systems as a free preview through sometime next week, after which it will cost a discounted $159 for a short period. ... The crucial part of the negotiations for baseball was InDemand's agreement to carry the MLB Channel, which is to make its debut in 2009.

We still think it's crazy this whole thing came down to a channel that won't launch for two years (minimum) and will likely have half its programming hosted by Tommy Lasorda ... but whatever! Out of town games are available again for those outside DirectTV's clutches, and this is a good thing. We all remain indebted to Major League Baseball for, at last, allowing us to give them a bunch of our money. Thanks!

And just in time to see the Cardinals at 0-3! Fantastic!

Extra Innings Is No Longer Exclusive [New York Times]