There were some wild walk off this week, from closer collapses to grand slams to awful defense. A little bit of everything, I guess.
April 16th, Mariners vs Rangers – Rodney goes down.
Texas was down 2-0 going into the bottom of the eighth after not being able to do anything against Felix Hernandez all game. They broke through for one (charged to a gassed Hernandez) in that inning, and walked it off in the ninth against Fernando Rodney thanks to a single, a walk, an error, a wild pitch, and a single – all with two outs.
April 16th, Athletics vs Angels – letting it slip away.
Oakland was spotted a 4-1 lead in this one, and they slowly proceeded to let it slip through their fingers. Hell, the Angels tied it in the ninth after Howie Kendrick beat out a slow roller that had the potential to be a game-ending double play. And even Chris Iannetta’s walk off homer wasn’t a monstrous shot that erased all doubt – A’s center fielder Craig Gentry might have had a play on the ball if he were a couple of inches taller.
April 18th, Mariners vs Marlins – Giancarlo Stanton’s walk off granny.
Home runs by Giancarlo Stanton give angels their wings. But a walk off grand slam over a team that made the biggest splash this offseason? Yeah, that’s pretty special.
April 19th, Astros vs Ahtletics – same ol’ Qualls.
The collapse by Chad Qualls in Oakland on Saturday was impressive. Really, it was. It’s not every day where you see a decently-paid reliever manage to only notch one out during a save attempt while allowing four hits and one walk. It almost seemed like there wasn’t even a question that the A’s would win this one once Jed Lowrie led off the inning with a solo homer.
April 20th, Orioles vs Red Sox – whoops.
Boston trailed this one 5-0 before promptly coming back to tie the game in a two inning span. In the bottom of the ninth, Mike Carp lined out to left with the bases loaded, but David Lough’s throw home was wild. Dustin Pedroia reversed his course on the bases for the fourth time and plated the winning run, and a discussion between the umpiring crew and Buck Showalter confirmed that everything was A-OK.
April 21st, Marlins vs Braves – redemption.
The Marlins tied this game in the ninth due in part to Braves catcher Evan Gattis, who allowed Adeiny Hechavarria to reach base thanks to catcher’s interference. When you manage to do something against Craig Kimbrel, you can’t take that lightly. But unfortunately for Miami, they did – Gattis hit a laser over the left field wall in the tenth to end the game and render the blown save moot.
April 21st, Reds vs Pirates – a wild ride.
Brandon Phillips is normally a pretty good fielder. Here, I have no idea what the hell he was doing – he completely misjudged this looper by Neil Walker. A good throw from Jay Bruce probably nails Russell Martin at the play, but the throw skipped over Devin Mesoraco’s head, and the Jolly Roger was flying at PNC Park.
