New York Mets announcer Keith Hernandez recently riled up some fans in Philadelphia when he said that he didn’t enjoy broadcasting Philadelphia Phillies games, citing the team’s frequently poor defense. He might have been onto something.
In the second inning of Thursday’s game, Miami Marlins’ first baseman Lewin Díaz hit what appeared to be a routine grounder to his opposite number, Philadelphia first baseman Rhys Hoskins. Diaz did hit the ball hard, though and Hoskins couldn’t quite come up with it. But at that point, all hope was not lost for the Phillies.
That would change.
Following Hoskins’ misplay, the ball bounced in the direction of pitcher Kyle Gibson, who was heading over to cover first base. Gibson changed his direction somewhat and tried to pick the ball up while on the run. It didn’t quite work out, though. He also misplayed the ball, perhaps trying to step back towards first just a little too early. As a result, he too booted the ball, falling down in the process.
At that point, all hope was lost.
Extremely normal baseball sequence… pic.twitter.com/s4jwUhGREW
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 11, 2022
In the aftermath of this glorious play, several in the MLB took to Twitter to vindicate Hernandez.
Keith Hernandez is smiling rn pic.twitter.com/tB5jj8zp3U
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) August 11, 2022
You're telling me Keith Hernandez doesn't think this is fundamentally sound? Shut up, nerd. https://t.co/HyegeHWlfH
— Dan King (@Kinger_DC) August 11, 2022
https://t.co/zdtjLwweIl pic.twitter.com/pnyAUp5rr9
— Devon (@DevOnSports) August 11, 2022
Phillies fans: Keith Hernandez is a hack who hasn’t watched us play in 2 months
The Phillies: https://t.co/xUeJcCznN0
— Eric (@EricSals) August 11, 2022
"Was I wrong❓️" https://t.co/evsJEiHYTA pic.twitter.com/SmjQzVG2HP
— Gil (@PhillyGiL) August 11, 2022
And it was then that they all realized … maybe Keith was right all along. https://t.co/2YqkAh9ZPY
— Metstradamus (@Metstradamus) August 11, 2022
Making matters even worse for the Phillies is that this error hurt. Had this play been made, Díaz would have been the second out of the inning and Peyton Burdick’s strikeout would have ended it. Instead, it was only the second out. After Luke Williams extended the inning with an RBI single, Joey Wendle drove Díaz in with an RBI single to put the Marlins up 1-0. Miami would go on to win the game 3-0, snapping Philadelphia’s seven-game winning streak.
[NBC Sports Philadelphia on Twitter]
