We could say that end of Tuesday’s game between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins was crazy. But that wouldn’t be going nearly far enough.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and his Twins trailing by a run, Miguel Sano came up with runners on first and second. He hit a ball hard to right field, but Detroit’s Robbie Grossman appeared to have a play on it. Appearances can be deceiving, though, as Grossman misplayed the ball. That misplay began one of the most dramatic “hold my beer” sequences we can ever remember.
Thinking the ball would be caught, Trevor Larnach stayed at second base. When the ball fell, he went over to third but couldn’t advance any further. That naturally froze Gio Urshela — who was at first to start the play — at second base. Only, Sano didn’t seem to be looking at the runners ahead of him. He ran to second and when that happened, Urshela broke for third.
So, it seemed as though rather than have the bases loaded with one out, Minnesota was — at best — looking at runners on second and third with two outs. That’s when Detroit catcher Eric Haase sprung into action.
He attempted to lightly throw the ball to third. But his throw sailed over the head of third baseman Jeimer Candelario and into left field. From there, Larnach trotted home to score the tying run while sprinted in behind him and slid home safely with the winning run.
ABSOLUTE CHAOS 😱😱😱#MNTWINS WALK IT OFF AGAIN!! pic.twitter.com/bm7DGJgncL
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 27, 2022
As one would expect, the two teams had dramatically different responses on their Twitter pages.
We don't really know what just happened, but…
BACK-TO-BACK WALK-OFF WINS! pic.twitter.com/8slUccIOwe
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 27, 2022
Final.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 27, 2022
They were not the only ones to react strongly.
Holy. Crap. This may be the dumbest ending to a baseball game ever. Even the Bad News Bears think this is bad. https://t.co/7bQkPDjjZR
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) April 27, 2022
This team exists to take years off my life. https://t.co/Y7tSqku6yN
— Brandon Mostyn (@Brandon_Mostyn) April 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/PaoIucciT/status/1519148618137149442
This is the end of Tigers-Twins game. It takes a few watchings to figure this one out! https://t.co/4SoyBOSVlA
— Scott Miller (@ScottMillerBbl) April 27, 2022
This doesn’t really do it justice. https://t.co/0WCOeCVIQO
— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) April 27, 2022
At least something went right for MN sprots tonight. https://t.co/v9YTReOkmI
— Sam Hartle (@Sam_Hartle) April 27, 2022
Oops. https://t.co/Z148S7kMYt
— Vincent Verhei (@VincentVerhei) April 27, 2022
Perhaps this is MLB’s version of Space Jam and we’re going to find out that aliens sapped all the talent out of the bodies of these players. That’s the most logical explanation that comes immediately to mind.
The season is not only a month old but this has to win the Craziest Finish of the Season Award, right? If it doesn’t, we can only imagine what the rest of the year will bring us.
[Photo Credit: Bally Sports North]
