The Baltimore Orioles were already down 3-0 to the Boston Red Sox in the top of the ninth inning on Wednesday night so any additional insurance runs would have made their task in the bottom of the frame even harder. O's reliever Cionel Perez found himself pitching to Ceddanne Rafaela with two on and one out, needing a double play to get out of the frame and minimize the damage. The good news, according to Baltimore broadcasters Kevin Brown and Jim Palmer, was that Rafaela was nearly impossible to walk so attacking the strike zone would pay off.
"This is a guy you can't walk," Brown said. "Rafaela is 160 plate appearances without one now."
"Well, he doesn't walk, you walk him," Palmer added.
By now you probably know what happened as this conversation played out—Perez misfired with four straight pitches to break Rafaela's streak and load the bases.
"This is a guy you can't walk. (Ceddanne) Rafaela is 160 plate appearances without one now." - Kevin Brown as the plate appearance begins
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 3, 2025
"Well, he doesn't walk. You walk him." - Jim Palmer
The Orioles indeed walked him, on four pitches. ⚾️🎙️ #MLB pic.twitter.com/DR10AEem14
Now, some people would have you believe that the announcer's jinx is not real and they'd be very correct. But it's still funny whenever things line up like this.
The good news for the Orioles is that they were able to get out of the inning with a double play. The bad is they failed to push any runs across in the bottom of the ninth and lost, 3-0.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Orioles Announcers Said a Red Sox Hitter Couldn't Be Walked, Guess What Happened Next.
