The Cubs are one of the hotter teams in baseball, nearly erasing Milwaukee’s lead in the NL Central since the All-Star Break. They’re playing a rubber game against the Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball, and the game didn’t take long to get to some excitement.
After Matt Carpenter reached on a Javy Baez error, Jose Quintana got two outs (one thanks to some solid Jason Heyward defense in right), Jedd Gyorko yanked a line drive into the left field gap, where it was chased down by the much-maligned (defensively, at least) Kyle Schwarber. Carpenter was going on contact, and the Cardinals decided to test Schwarber’s ability in left.
They chose…poorly:
That’s a perfectly executed relay from Schwarber, Russell, and Contreras, and Carpenter had absolutely no chance. He later left the game with what was reported as a strained quad, so it’s possible he lost a step after third base coach Chris Maloney made the call to wave him home, but he would have had to lose about 5 steps to have that make a difference.
Still, Randall Grichuk’s massive second inning blast the next inning probably helped the Cardinals get over it.
Randal Grichuk #MustangAlum with his 3rd HR in 3 Games! @Cardinals lead on @BBTN_ESPN pic.twitter.com/kXBV6MPvVh
— Lamar Consolidated Baseball (@LamarHSHardball) July 24, 2017
Maloney was reassigned early this summer Jay. He most certainly was not waving anyone home this weekend. You might want to be in the know a little more if you’re going to cover pro sports, buddy.