Washington Nationals Commit One of Worst Baserunning Blunders Ever Seen
It's a good thing the Washington Nationals beat the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. Because if they'd lost, they'd never live down what was one of the worst baserunning plays in modern times.
The play in question occurred in the bottom of the eighth inning with two on and nobody out. The Nationals were already leading 5-2, but were looking for some insurance runs before handing the ball to closer Kyle Finnegan.
Joey Gallo led off with a walk against Luke Weaver, then advanced to second on Juan Yepez's single. Unfortunately for Washington, that's when all hell broke loose.
Ladies and gentlemen, the worst base-running play of the MLB season. With 0 outs on a ball that hit the centerfield wall, the Nationals just ran into a double play. They should’ve at worst had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Unacceptable for the Yankees to lose to this team. pic.twitter.com/eEXb9KB4oo
— Sloan Piva (@SloanPiva) August 29, 2024
With an 0-2 count, Jose Tena laced a long fly ball to center field that sailed over Aaron Judge's head and landed on the warning track before bouncing off the wall.
Gallo, who thought the ball would be caught and tagged up initially, got a late start breaking for home. He also stopped briefly after rounding the bag, as he was held up by third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, essentially dooming his chances of scoring.
Realizing his mistake, Gallo returned to third base. However, Yepez was already on his way to third and had to reverse course.
The throw arrived at home plate well ahead of Gallo, validating his decision not to go for it. Gallo slid back safely into third, but Yepez was only halfway back to second. Yankees catcher Austin Wells fired the ball to second, catching Yepez in a rundown.
Rather than letting Yepez get tagged out, Gallo inexplicably broke for home. Now he was the one caught in a rundown, and he was tagged for the first run of the inning.
But the play didn't stop there. Jazz Chisholm Jr. looked Yepez back to second before throwing across the diamond to first base, where Tena had strayed too far off the bag.
Another rundown ensued, and Tena was quickly tagged out. Yepez got back to second base safely, avoiding the triple play.
Not surprisingly, fans were shocked.
The Nationals may have just had the worst base running display on a single play that I have ever seen in my life.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) August 29, 2024
No exaggeration. I've never seen a debacle like what I just saw.
Somehow, the Nationals managed to run into not one, but two outs on the play. They also failed to score run, squandering Tena's hit.
Keibert Ruiz grounded out to end the inning, stranding Yepez and keeping the score at 5-2. The play ended up not mattering, as New York failed to score in the top of the ninth.
It wasn't pretty, but Washington won the rubber game and the series against the first-place Yankees, poor baserunning and all.
TYLER MAHER