Watch: Basepath trickery completely fools Red Sox player

By Dave Kovaleski July 15, 2018 at 9:05am

Dude, what were you thinking?

Red Sox first baseman Blake Swihart was fooled by one of the oldest tricks in the book Saturday, the fake double play.

In the bottom of the 7th inning with one out, Swihart singled to right field. The next batter, Sandy Leon, lofted a lazy fly ball to left which everyone in Fenway Park saw except for one person, Swihart.

The perfect distraction. #Sneaky 👀 https://t.co/F97Ruwfi5V

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 14, 2018

He was obviously running on the crack of the bat, but he forgot to actually watch where the ball went. Leon’s fly ball was not even close to dropping in for a hit, as one could tell by watching Leon’s body language after he hit it.

But Swihart didn’t even know it went in the air, or the outfield — he apparently thought it was a ground ball to second base.

Blue Jays shortstop Aldemys Diaz, seeing that Swihart had no idea where the ball went, faked like he was covering second for a double play ball.

Boston's Blake Swihart embarrassed on base path by Blue Jays trickery: https://t.co/LeeWmdxli7 pic.twitter.com/Utl7nLqD23

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) July 14, 2018

Meanwhile, Blue Jays second baseman Lourdes Gurriel acted like the ball had come to him and he made like he was flipping it to Diaz to get Swihart at second.

Are the Red Sox the best team in baseball?

Swihart turned his head toward Gurriel, perhaps thinking he was going to be doubled up. Diaz sold it by faking the catch at second and the throw to first.

It wasn’t until Swihart rounded second that he realized that he had been duped. At that point he looked out to left field to see Teoscar Hernandez catching the fly ball and throwing it to first. Swihart was easily doubled up to end the inning.

The Sox were trailing at that point 2-1, but an RBI double by Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth.

All the Red Sox needed was a sac fly.

Xander Bogaerts gave them a grand slam. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/R7WraQehpg

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 14, 2018

The game went to extra innings when Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a walk off grand slam to win it 6-2.

It comes two days after Mookie Betts hit a 9-iron over the Green Monster for a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth that put the Sox ahead for good in their 6-4 win over Toronto.

Mookie Betts had Fenway going nuts, 13 pitch AB capped off with a grand slam 😳 pic.twitter.com/eLfQ2KSOMo

— Kent (@RealKentMurphy) July 13, 2018

The Red Sox have the best record in baseball at 67-30

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Boston Red Sox, MLB

Dave Kovaleski

Contributor, Sports

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Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.

Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.

Location

Massachusetts

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English

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Sports