SEATTLE – A Detroit Tigers fan who was at the game Monday night in Seattle saved the team from giving up a home run.
The Tigers got their first win of the season in the series opener against the Mariners. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the game wasn’t necessarily comfortable, as the Mariners stayed within striking distance until the final out.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with the Tigers up 8-3, Julio Rodriguez got a 2-1 sinker from Brenan Hanifee and laced it 96.2 mph into the right field corner.
Right fielder Zach McKinstry nearly made a sensational sliding catch, but the ball squirted out of his glove as he braced for impact with the wall in foul territory.
The ball bounced off the wall, then ricocheted off McKinstry’s leg before getting wedged between the ground and the bottom of the wall’s padding.
McKinstry got up off his back and looked around, not sure where the ball had gone. It was completely underneath the padding, all the way back up against the wall.
Luckily for the Tigers, one of their own fans had the seat right next to the wall where the play happened. As McKinstry spun in a circle to try to find the ball, FanDuel Sports Network replays showed that fan yelling and pointing toward where it went.
McKinstry realized what had happened, grabbed the ball, and threw it in. Rodriguez ended up at third base with a triple.
Hanifee struck out the next two batters, so it looked like the fan was actually going to save the Tigers a run. But Jorge Polanco hit a two-out single to right field to score Rodriguez.
So the fan didn’t technically end up saving the Tigers a run. But he did make sure they didn’t allow an inside-the-park homer. He’s still a hero in my book.
