Derek Shelton approached two of his coaches, Glenn Sherlock and Joey Cora, after the play to ask if they had ever seen anything like it.
Sherlock entered professional ball in 1983 and has stuck around ever since. Cora got his start in 1985. The two combine for nearly 70 years of professional baseball experience.
Neither had ever seen that, though.
“They say if you stay in the game long enough, you'll see everything,” Shelton said. “I've never seen that before.”
That once in a lifetime play, one that got 'THERE WERE TWO OUTS' trending nationally on Twitter, was the difference in the Pirates' 5-3 loss to the Cubs Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.
Let’s set the stage.
Third inning. Pirates are down 1-0 and the Cubs have a runner on second, Willson Contreras, with two outs. Javier Báez swings at a neck-high pitch from Tyler Anderson and bounces a ball to the third baseman Erik González, whose throw across the diamond is a little wide and pulls first baseman Craig off the bag.
Báez, knowing he’ll be tagged out if he keeps running towards first, improvises and reverses course, running back towards the plate.
“I didn’t plan it right when it happened,” Báez said. “I never had that in my plans.”
This shouldn’t be an issue. All Craig has to do is touch first base and the inning is over.
But the rookie takes the bait and chases Báez:
On the other side of the diamond, Contreras is at third by this point, but not for much longer. As Báez nears the plate, Contreras starts to sprint towards home as well:
As Contreras comes into frame from that angle, so does Anderson, visibly confused.
He started walking towards the dugout after the ball hit González’s mit. He should have been back on the bench by now. But here he is, one of five players just feet from home plate.
He, like the other eight Pirates players on the field, are silent. None are telling Craig to just run back to first.
“One of those situations where, you know, there wasn't a bunch of teammates picking up Will,” Anderson said. “Whoever it would have been, you know, just say all we got to do is just step on first or tag that guy or whatever.
“That's on every single one of us as well.”
Craig, watching Contreras at third, throws the ball to catcher Michael Pérez to try to get the Cubs' catcher before he scores.
It was a potential run that couldn’t have scored had Craig simply tagged Báez, or simply touched first.
Craig, a minor-leauge gold glover in 2019 and former first-round draft pick, was playing in his 14th career game at the majors Thursday. After getting a cup of coffee in the majors in 2020, this is his first extended look in the majors after the top two first baseman on the depth chart, Colin Moran and Phillip Evans, both hit the injured list earlier this month.
So Craig it is, hence the flip to Pérez:
“He knew he screwed up,” Shelton said. “[He’s] a young kid and he made a mistake and we move on. We talked about it, but, you know, he made a mistake.”
There’s a case to be made that Pérez could have tagged Báez right there and ended the fiasco. He and Craig had their eye on Contreras though, so Pérez goes down to try to apply the nab the runner at the plate. Well, the other runner.
He’s late, and Báez is the first to celebrate:
He’s signaling that Contreras is safe, but he isn’t yet. Not until Báez successfully reaches first.
And the Pirates don’t have anyone covering the bag. Craig and Anderson are feet away from each other and not in position to catch up to the speedy Báez, and Adam Frazier is by second base.
“He was around the shift side,” Shelton said. "I don't think he'd ever seen that play before, either.”
It’s at this point that two people break towards first to try to take the throw. The first is Frazier. The second is right fielder Gregory Polanco.
Pérez aims for Frazier, who is sprinting towards the bag. His throw is behind Frazier, nicks off his glove and goes into right field. Báez is safe, and the run scores.
“We can't chase a runner,” Shelton said. “We have to make sure we get the force. That's just where it's at. I mean, if Báez runs all the way back or runs into their dugout or runs down to the Strip District, we can walk down and touch first.”
But it’s not over yet. Since Polanco ran to cover the bag, he’s not in position to field the deflected throw. Báez takes off again, and slides into second safely.
At full speed, here’s what it looked like:
El Mago magic!
— MLB (@MLB) May 27, 2021
Have you ever seen anything like this?! pic.twitter.com/aHQs6eAxCG
Someone check on Anthony Rizzo and the Cubs' bench to see if they're ok.
“The dugout was just losing it,” Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks said. “The same reaction you guys had, everybody had. Couldn’t believe their eyes.”
Ian Happ followed with a bloop single to center, giving the Cubs another tally, the deciding runs in a 5-3 decision.
The night before, Shelton had praised his team for how they have been playing defense. Their 27 errors are the sixth-fewest in the National League, and they have been worth eight defensive runs saved, per Fielding Bible. As a group, they have been above average. In the ninth, Craig made a strong throw across the diamond to complete a 6-3-5 double-play.
But all it takes is one bad play sometimes.
“That’s on me,” Shelton said. “We got to know [how to execute] that. I guarantee you'll never see it again while I'm here. Hopefully, we'll never see it again, but that's on me. Our guys have got to know the rules.”
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Anderson's afternoon didn't get much easier after the third inning fiasco. In the fourth, he appeared to hit Cubs right fielder Patrick Wisdom with a pitch. The Pirates challenged and won, proving it hit the bat first.
That ended up backfiring on them, because four pitches later, Wisdom put a changeup into the seats in left for a homer.
"Looking back in hindsight, I wish I would have hit him," Anderson joked.
Anderson was limited to five innings because of the extra pitches he threw in the fourth. He allowed four runs, two earned, on four hits, a walk and two solo home runs. He struck out four.
While it was hardly his best start, it was a bounce back from his last outing in Atlanta, which set the pace for a 20-1 loss.
"Overall I felt better," he said. "For the most part, [we did] what we want to do."
• Despite falling behind early, the Pirates did climb back into this one, starting with back-to-back home runs by Bryan Reynolds and Polanco in the home half of the fourth, with Pérez adding another in the seventh.
They had a prime chance to tie things up in the eighth after Wilmer Difo opened the inning with a walk and Frazier rolled an infield single that Báez threw away. Frazier broke for second, but the errant throw took a Cubs bounce and he was caught between the basepaths.
"It was just one of those days where we didn't catch many breaks."
González bounced out to shortstop with the bases loaded to end the inning.
• So, how exactly do you respond after a defensive gaff like that?
"There's no extra PFP [pitcher's fielding practice] for that play because I don't think you could simulate that play," Shelton said. "It's more of a once-in-a-lifetime thing."
File this under teachable moments and discussions with players.
• Factoid of the game: This was the first time the Pirates hit three home runs at PNC Park since Sept. 24, 2020, when they hit four.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Ben Gamel, LF
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Gregory Polanco, RF
Erik González, 3B
Will Craig, 1B
Michael Pérez, C
Kevin Newman, SS
Tyler Anderson, P
And for David Ross' Cubs:
Willson Contreras, C
Kris Bryant, 1B
Javier Baez, SS
Ian Happ, CF
David Bote, 3B
Rafael Ortega, LF
Patrick Wisdom, RF
Eric Sogard, 2B
Kyle Hendricks, P
THE SCHEDULE
The Rockies are coming to PNC Park Friday to start a three-game set. Jon Gray (4-4, 3.43) will take on Mitch Keller (2-6, 7.41), with first pitch coming at 6:35 p.m. Gerard and I will have you covered.
THE CONTENT
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