Patrick Bailey’s entrance into the MLB record books on Tuesday night began with a tight swing that sent a fastball from Phillies reliever Jordan Romano into Triples Alley.
It ended with Bailey chugging his way around third base then getting mobbed at home plate by his teammates after becoming the third catcher in major league history to hit a game-ending, inside-the-park home run.
The three-run shot had an exit velocity of 166.4kph and bounced off the brick wall at the Giants waterfront ballpark. It ricocheted back toward center field as Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh gave chase.
Photo: AP
Bailey said his initial thought was to get a triple before he saw third base coach Matt Williams waving him in.
“Off the ball I just knew I got it well,” Bailey said. “I saw it was towards Triples Alley and I was like: ‘Oh I gotta go. I at least gotta get to third.’ Once I saw the bounce, I was like: ‘All right, just don’t fall over.’”
It was also the first time in nearly nine years that a player has hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run in the majors.
Photo: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / USA Today
The three-run home run lifted the Giants to a 4-3 victory that had the Oracle Park crowd roaring as Bailey crossed the plate.
“Tired,” Bailey said when asked how he felt. “I wished it would have gone over the fence.”
In Milwaukee, Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Brewers’ rookie phenom got the last word.
After allowing Ohtani’s 131.4m blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like: ‘OK, now we go.’”
Misiorowski also outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 2m-tall right-hander throws hard.
“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said on Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”
Elsewhere, the Detroit Tigers mauled the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2, the New York Mets survived the Baltimore Orioles 7-6 in 10 innings, the New York Yankees drowned the Seattle Mariners 10-3, the Boston Red Sox toppled the Colorado Rockies 10-2 and the Miami Marlins devastated the Cincinnati Reds 12-2.
The Kansas City Royals pipped the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3, the Minnesota Twins dominated the Chicago Cubs 8-1, the Toronto Blue Jays outplayed the Chicago White Sox 6-1 in a game shortened to seven innings due to rain and the St Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 4-2.
The Cleveland Guardians fought past the Houston Astros 10-6 in 10 innings, the Texas Rangers shot down the Los Angeles Angels 13-1, the San Diego Padres blanked the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0 and the Athletics pounded the Atlanta Braves 10-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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