Rangers somehow score 2 runs, including game-winner, on a strikeout
Usually in baseball, the team up to bat doesn’t benefit when a hitter strikes out.
Unless he argues the call, the batter will normally walk slowly back to the dugout, knowing that he did nothing to help his team put runs on the board.
The pitcher, on the other hand, might pump his fist, confident he made such great pitches that he was able to put the hitter away all on his own, without any help from his fielders.
On Wednesday, though, the tables were turned, as a strikeout actually led to two runs scoring, including what turned out to be the game-winner.
The Texas Rangers were beating the Seattle Mariners 1-0 in the top of the ninth inning with Ronald Guzman at the plate facing reliever Marc Rzepczynski. The bases were loaded with two outs, but on a 2-2 pitch, Guzman struck out on a slider.
However, the inning would not end there. The ball got away from catcher David Freitas and went all the way to the backstop.
The runner on third, Jurickson Profar, was able to score easily. Then, Freitas attempted to throw out Guzman at first. The throw wasn’t close.
“I saw the ball … went by and I took off,” Guzman said after the game, according MLB’s Cut 4. “I’m glad it went far enough for me to get to first base because I am a slow runner.”
Freitas’ curious decision to throw the ball to first allowed Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had been on second base when the play started, to race home as well. He slid into the plate safely to score the second run of the inning.
Kiner-Falefa, a rookie who played catcher for a time in the minor leagues, said his experience at the position helped him realize he had a chance to score.
“Being a catcher myself, I knew that was a possibility,”Kiner-Falefa. “I was running hard and made a good turn around third. I just wanted to make sure he let go of the ball.”
“In our minor league system, they instill aggressive baserunning,” he said. “Sometimes they want you to be too aggressive so you know your limits. We’ve got some guys out of the lineup, but with better baserunning, you can make up for some of that.”
To recap, as a result of the strikeout, the Rangers scored two runs, while the the Mariners got no outs.
It was a particularly unfortunate situation for Rzepczynski, who would go on to give up an infield single that scored the third run of the inning. He would have been out of the inning without giving up any runs if Freitas had been able to hold onto his strikeout, which was ruled a past ball.
Making matters worse, in the bottom of the inning, Mariners slugger Kyle Seager hit a solo home run. If not for the past ball, that blast would have tied the game.
“Unfortunately that inning ended up being the game,” said Rzepczynski, who was ultimate charged with three unearned runs. “But for me, when you’ve been struggling, I have to look at the positives. I got three punchouts and a ground ball, so I’m going to look at it like that. You control what you can control, so I’m going to look at this as a positive for me.”
The final score of the game was 4-1 in favor of the Rangers.
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