The Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, on Tuesday in a game played at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Tampa Bay left fielder Christopher Morel came incredibly and frustratingly close to changing the result of that game.
During the second inning, L.A.'s Kyren Paris hit a home run. Morel almost robbed Paris of the two-run homer at the fence, but instead he ended up getting robbed by notorious ballhawk Zach Hample.
Later in the game things got weird with Morel at the plate. In the bottom of the seventh, with the Rays trailing 2-1 with no outs and a runner on second, Morel hit what he thought was a home run. He walked out of the box as the ball soared toward the fence. Then, right after a rather enthusiastic bat flip/bat spike, Morel realized that the ball hit the wall.
Christopher Morel bat flipping gone wrong. 😬 #RaysUp#MLB⚾️ pic.twitter.com/L5MOpQF4rA
— Rip (@RipInWisconsin) April 9, 2025
Luckily, his failure to hustle didn't result in the Rays losing a run as Kameron Misner tripled on the very next pitch to drive in Morel and give the Rays a 3-2 lead.
After the Angels tied the game in the top of the eighth, Morel came up again in the bottom half of the inning. After jumping out to a 3-0 count, Morel watched the next two pitches get called for strikes. On the payoff pitch Morel took a big cut and missed. He then slammed his bat into the dirt and got an immediate ejection.
What a night for Christopher Morel as he's ejected from the gamepic.twitter.com/rvKxnIO9bx
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) April 9, 2025
It was the perfect ending to a game that Morel will probably want to forget.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Nothing Went Christopher Morel’s Way During Rays Loss to Angels.
