Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Rhys Hoskins Got Revenge on the Mets With the Cockiest Home Run Trot
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Success is the best revenge
With two outs in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s blowout win over the Phillies, Mets reliever Jacob Rhame threw two pitches up near the head of Rhys Hoskins. The benches emptied half-heartedly and warnings were issued but there were no serious confrontations. Hoskins and manager Gabe Kapler thought it was intentional, but Rhame insisted he was just working inside.
Fast forward to Wednesday night. Rhame is on the mound again, Hoskins is at the plate, and the Phillies slugger gets his revenge in a major way.
Not only did Hoskins take Rhame deep to extend the Phillies’ lead, he took his sweet-ass time rounding the bases. You could have timed his home run trot with a calendar.
Thrown at last night, homer tonight!
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 25, 2019
Hoskins hits a 2-R HR and his slow trot around the bases is a thing of beauty. pic.twitter.com/nh8PGnvL2r
The tiny little steps onto the plate were also a nice touch, and I think the hand signal he flashes is to say “that’s two homers I’ve hit this series” (he also had one on Monday).
How slow was his trot? This slow:
Rhys Hoskins' home run trot tonight: 34.23 seconds.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 25, 2019
Bartolo Colon's home run trot in 2016: 30.5 seconds.
“Look, I think that if a ball goes over your head the night before, the best way to sort of get back at the pitcher is to put the ball in the seats,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “I thought that it was worthy of [Hoskins] having that moment and really taking it all in, soaking it all in. He deserved that. I thought he earned it.”
Rhame, meanwhile, was very much Not Mad about Hoskins showing him up.
“He got me,” the pitcher said. “If I make a better pitch he doesn’t get to run the bases.”
If the Mets want to get revenge on Hoskins, it’ll have to wait—that was the series finale and they don’t meet again until June 24 in Philadelphia.
The Clippers are giving the Warriors everything they can handle
Who predicted Golden State would lose two games at home and the Clippers-Warriors series would go to six games? It wasn’t as stunning as the 31-point comeback in Game 2, but the Clips’ win Wednesday night did stave off elimination and send the series back to Los Angeles.
Kevin Durant dominated with 45 points but that was no match for Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, who combined for 57 off the bench.
Here’s how the final four minutes of the game played out:
Vlad Jr. is finally coming up
It should have happened a long time ago, but the Blue Jays are finally done suppressing Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s service time and will promote him to the MLB roster on Friday.
Get ready to be amazed by the way he can just obliterate a baseball, but also be prepared for the fact that this kid is in the big leagues to make you feel like you are actively turning into dust.
My son! The country that saw you as a child will now see you turn into a big one.
— Vladimir Guerrero (@VladGuerrero27) April 25, 2019
Working hard everything can be done. I’m proud of you!
Love you! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WJyLBVKWoR
The best of SI
Sometimes the trick to getting selected high in the NFL draft is scrubbing all your tweets. ... The nine myths you’ll hear during the NFL draft. ... A blind Ravens fan will be the first person to announce an NFL draft pick in braille.
Around the sports world
Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah was robbed at a hotel in Ethiopa and is blaming another track legend. ... Former MLB player Eric Byrnes set a world record by playing 420 holes of golf in 24 hours, or about a hole every five minutes.
This is the crazy goal that ended the Caps-Canes double overtime Game 7
Here’s how the Jazz got eliminated
The good news: You got field-level seats. The bad news:
Spare a thought for the person sat in this seat at Old Trafford tonight 😂🌧 pic.twitter.com/057xbupHyv
— Soccer AM (@SoccerAM) April 24, 2019
Hidden ball trick!
You have to love Zlatan
Zlatan inspiring this young kid with a little @Ibra_official wisdom: “You have to enjoy the moment. Enjoy.” pic.twitter.com/bZBEuAjXjN
— Adam Serrano (@AdamSerrano) April 21, 2019
The Yankees are simply running out of players
Clint Frazier is headed to the injured list. Aaron Boone said that there is a partial tear in Frazier’s left ankle. They believe it could be 10-14 days.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) April 25, 2019
Hmmm, no.
This hat. pic.twitter.com/OHcVwqbcmd
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) April 25, 2019
Do yourself a favor and look at the replies
Not sports
A six-ton metal potato that previously drummed up publicity for Idaho is now for rent as an Airbnb. ... The Office is reportedly in danger of being pulled from Netflix. ... A kangaroo is on the loose somewhere in Texas.
Ruthless
my wife is out shopping and just absolutely ruined me without even trying pic.twitter.com/erfu14zLBf
— Skoog (@Skoog) April 24, 2019
A local news reporter’s worst nightmare
Tense moments during @Jummy4NY live shot covering manhole explosion in Midtown Manhattan @NBCNewYork #breakingnews https://t.co/09Q1LIVOqt pic.twitter.com/3hIqCNVHQ3
— Jesse Hamilton (@JesseJHamilton) April 24, 2019
I was reminded Wednesday of this incredible 30 Rock scene
Another Godzilla movie?
A good song
Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.