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Jason Benetti Nailed His Call of Parker Meadows's Shocking Go-Ahead Grand Slam

Down three. Bases loaded. Two outs. Full count. And Parker Meadows delivered.

Kyle Koster

Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar watches a grand slam hit by Meadows.
Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar watches a grand slam hit by Meadows. / Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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The Detroit Tigers looked destined to suffer a three-game sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres on Thursday night as they trailed 3-0 headed into the ninth inning. A defeat would have made their improbable path to a Wild Card spot even more unlikely. But with their backs up firmly against the wall, they mounted a rally that put Parker Meadows at the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. The young outfielder worked the count full and then, just like so many kids have done in their backyard in that situation, Meadows launched a legitimately-stunning, grand-slam home run over the fence in left field.

Tigers play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti captured the surprise of the moment perfectly on the Bally Sports Detroit broadcast and Meadows got to carry around a bunch of fake pizzas on a stick upon reaching his jubilant dugout.

San Diego had shut out Detroit in the series opener and then overcame a five-run deficit to win on Wednesday night, so this was an even bigger momentum shift than the normal go-ahead grand slam.

Meadows, who struggled mightily in his 2023 rookie campaign and has been up and down between the majors and minors this season, has rounded into a very productive player as the Tigers have mounted a late-summer charge up the standings.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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