Present Mets supervisor Buck Showalter as soon as ordered Barry Bonds – the perfect hitter in baseball on the time — to be walked with the bases loaded.
However Corey Seager?
Angels supervisor Joe Maddon had pitcher Austin Warren difficulty a free go to the brand new Rangers shortstop with the bases loaded within the fourth inning of Friday’s recreation in Texas. The transfer initially backfired with the Rangers scoring two extra runs within the inning, earlier than the Angels got here again to publish a 9-6 victory.
“I assumed by strolling Seager, it could keep away from the large blow,” Maddon defined after the sport. “And simply to fire up the group, fairly frankly. It’s not one thing you usually do. I assumed by going up there and doing one thing like that, the workforce would possibly reply to one thing like that.”
Maddon had tried this as soon as earlier than throughout his 19 seasons as a big-league supervisor, strolling Texas star Josh Hamilton with the bases full as supervisor of the Rays in 2008.
Showalter’s resolution to stroll Bonds with the Diamondbacks in 1998 was the one different occasion of a bases-loaded intentional stroll since 1950. There beforehand had been 5 recorded situations, together with of Corridor of Famers Nap Lajoie in 1901 and Mel Ott in 1929.
Seager, the previous Dodgers shortstop who signed a 10-year contract value $325 million with Texas as a free agent within the offseason, is batting .333 with one dwelling run and 6 RBIs in seven video games this season.
Following the intentional stroll, Mitch Garver lifted a sacrifice fly and Warren balked dwelling one other run for a 6-2 Texas lead. The Angels scored 5 runs within the prime of the fifth – together with a homer by Shohei Ohtani – and two extra within the seventh to enhance to 4-4 this season.
“Completely, it stunned me, however I’m not going to inform Joe Maddon no,” Warren stated after the sport. “I belief Maddon loads and it labored out.
“No matter it did, it sparked us. As a result of we put up 5 runs the following inning. So all of it labored out.”
Texas supervisor Chris Woodward additionally admittedly was stunned by Maddon’s transfer.
“I believe all people was [surprised],” Woodward stated. “I’ve seen it performed to the perfect hitter within the recreation in Barry Bonds. It’s clearly a praise to Seager, to how good he's. Who is aware of, perhaps it’s a grand slam or perhaps it’s a double play? However that wasn’t the rationale they received. They didn’t get out of it due to that. And due to that, we ended up scoring a couple of runs.”
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