Baseball tends to be a game of the routine, where specific plays usually lead to specific results. Slap a grounder with a man on first base? Double play. Pop up a fly ball with a runner on third? Simple sacrifice fly.
When Miami Marlins second baseman Starlin Castro skied a ball over to right field with the bases loaded on Friday, the likely result was just that he'd be caught out and that the man on third would come home, maybe with a play at the plate.
But when the floodgates open, weird baseball can get real weird, real fast. Castro was put out and the runner came home safely, all as expected, but when Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Elías Díaz’s throw to second sailed high, the ball tumbled to the warning track and everyone came home:
That is the first three-run sac fly since the Montreal Expos lucked into one against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 7, 2000, according to MLB.com. Canadian content!
The Marlins won 7-2 over the Pirates, so Díaz’s error wasn’t a make-or-break deal for the game. It did, however, cede the Pirates lead in the fifth inning, which they never regained. That can’t possibly feel good. Díaz did connect on a home run right after, though, so it wasn’t all bad.
Just more of your daily weird baseball.
