Have you ever seen a baseball vanish into thin air in the middle of a play? Hudson Valley Renegades catcher Antonio Gomez thought he did.
During the first inning of Tuesday’s night game between the Greenville Drive (the High-A affiliate of the Red Sox) and the Renegades (a Yankees affiliate), Greenville shortstop Marcelo Mayer hit a routine single between first and second. Eddinson Paulino, the runner on second, hustled home and slid in just ahead of the throw from right fielder Grant Richardson.
Gomez didn’t get a chance to try to tag Paulino because he mishandled the throw and as Chase Meidroth, the runner on first, continued around the bases, Gomez frantically searched for the ball. He couldn't find it anywhere, even with pitcher Chase Hampton pointing right at it.
The ball, improbably, had landed right on top of the white paint of the foul line and Gomez couldn’t see it. Meidroth took advantage of the confusion and scored as Gomez continued to search in vain.
Mayer brings in Paulino, and Meidroth scores on play that well... you have to see to believe.
— Greenville Drive (@GreenvilleDrive) April 25, 2023
The ball does its best camouflage routine - we swear we scheduled that performance for the seventh inning stretch.
Drive 2, Renegades 0 pic.twitter.com/s6uDl2cuQ8
Gomez was charged with an error on the play. During the next at-bat, he was charged with a passed ball that allowed Mayer to advance to third. He subsequently scored on a wild pitch.
The strange play was the start of a big inning for the Drive, who scored their fourth run on a homer by Blaze Jordan.
It was the Renegades who got the last laugh, though. They put up five runs in the ninth inning to win 11–6.
