On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Angels squeaked by the Seattle Mariners, 5-4, thanks to a walk-off home run by Mickey Moniak. While the desired end result was achieved, the process left something to be desired by the home side.
They may not have needed the Moniak walk-off if the bottom of the eighth hadn't gone so poorly. L.A.'s Taylor Ward smacked a leadoff double to begin the frame with the score tied 4-4, then reached third on a wild pitch. With No. 2 hitter Jack Lopez at the plate it seemed all but assured the Angels would find a way to get a run across the plate.
But, for some reason, a suicide squeeze was called. And it went catastrophically wrong.
Lopez laid down the bunt, but the ball barely rolled an inch past home plate. Lopez, assuming it would roll foul, stayed in the batter's box. But Ward was already on his way. It led to a bizarre visual in which Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh easily tagged out the runner from third, who nearly slid into his own teammate, and then Raleigh tossed it to the first baseman to tag Lopez out just as easily.
Just a mess.
So, on a suicide squeeze, if the hitter can get the ball on the ground in play, it's basically impossible for the defense to stop the run from scoring.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) September 1, 2024
Unless you do this. pic.twitter.com/Sg7m4A6NxG
The Angels went from a runner on third with nobody out and the middle of the order coming up in a tie game to two outs and no men on. Truly impressive to go from an ideal situation to an utter disaster with merely one decision.
Los Angeles got away with it this time.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Angels' Suicide Squeeze Attempt Goes Catastrophically Wrong .
