Austin Slater thought he was out, but hit a home run.

There’s the old baseball broadcasting cliché “He knew it was gone as soon as it left the bat,” but San Francisco Giants’ left fielder Austin Slater did the exact opposite Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates; he didn’t know his hit was gone even after it left the park. In the sixth inning, Slater broke up Pirates’ pitcher Chad Kuhl’s no-hitter bid with a solo home run to center field, but initially thought that center fielder Andrew McCutchen caught it at the wall, leading to him stopping at second base and starting to jog back to the dugout:

Here’s the replay:

It’s understandable why Slater thought this was caught, given McCutchen’s great leap at the wall. And better to incorrectly assume you’re out than incorrectly assume you hit a home run. But it wound up being pretty funny nonetheless. The “good grief!” on the broadcast is particularly excellent. And although it’s been a no-good, very-bad year for the Giants, this is proof the worst doesn’t always happen. San Francisco would go on to win 2-1.

[Clippit]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.