baseball

Baseball is full of weird coincidences and strange events that must be seen to be believed.

Something weird and strange definitely happened at Citi Field Monday night in the bottom of the seventh.

First, Mets infielder Luis Guillorme laid down a perfect bunt along the third base line. Third baseman Manny Machado’s only play was to watch the ball roll along the chalk line and hope it rolled foul. But it stayed fair.

After Eduardo Escobar plated a run with a sacrifice fly, catcher Tomás Nido hit a slow roller that followed the exact course of Guillorme’s bunt just a couple of minutes earlier. Machado and pitcher Yu Darvish watched, and the ball rolled to a stop close to the same spot.

Nido’s hit knocked Darvish out of the game as reliever Tim Hill came in. Hill yielded a two-run double to Francisco Lindor to highlight the three-run inning.

The Mets, thanks to those slow-rolling, improbable hits and a strong start from Max Scherzer, went on to win 5-0.

It defies all odds that there could be two such similar hits, just a couple of minutes apart. According to Statcast, Nido’s ball had an exit velocity of 56.4 mph, while Guillorme’s left the bat at 37.5 mph. The xBA (expected batting average based on similar batted ball contact) for both balls was ridiculously low, with Guillorme at .120 and Nido’s at .200.

Darvish didn’t know what to think after the game.

“You’ll probably see that once a season,” Darvish said (via The Athletic) “but you get to see it two times in one inning. I don’t know if that’s unlucky or if I’m lucky to be able to see that.”

Fans were generally amazed by the two bizarre hits.

[MLB.com]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.