You’ve heard about players hitting the baseball so hard that the cover comes off of it, but never going through the glove of the person fielding the ball.
That’s exactly what happened in Baltimore on Thursday night, when the Orioles’ Joey Rickard hit a bullet straight to third base. Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson was right there to make the play, and was convinced he did, until he saw the ball go behind him.
Although rare, it’s not the first time we’ve seen somebody rip the ball through the glove of an infielder. In fact, it happened just a year ago to Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer, after Tampa Bay Rays’ center fielder Kevin Kiermaier hit an absolute bullet.
But lucky for Hosmer and the Royals, they were able to get the out at first. Hosmer had been playing in with the threat of Kiermaier possibly bunting on the play.
The ball going through the glove of Donaldson might have been a sign of things to come for the Blue Jays, as the Orioles just edged them out for a 3-2 victory. It allowed the Orioles to extend their AL East lead over the Blue Jays to 3.5 games.
