It’s every hitter’s dream to hit a home run in the postseason. For Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson, the situation Tuesday night quickly turned into a nightmare.
Facing Cal Quantrill to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning, Donaldson drove a ball to deep right field and clearly thought it cleared the fence. By the time he got to first base, he was in full home run trot mode and high-fiving first base coach Travis Chapman.
There was just one problem: the ball didn’t clear the wall.
Guardians right fielder Oscar Gonzalez quickly fired the ball to second base as Donaldson was caught in between first and second. He tried to scamper back to first base, but to no avail, turning a ball that looked like extra bases into an out. The umpire crew briefly reviewed the play, but upheld the original call on the field.
All’s well that ends well, though, and the blunder did not end up costing New York. The Yankees took a 2-1 lead later that inning on a sacrifice fly by Jose Trevino, eventually winning by a 4-1 final score. Donaldson ended up going 2-for-2 with a walk and played solid defense, so perhaps he’s free to laugh about the miscue as well.
Still, that didn’t stop others from pointing out the miscue by the veteran third baseman who’s been known to be a bit prickly in the past when it comes to baseball’s unwritten rules. Here are some of the top reactions from social media:
