Astros pull a sneak move to get the runner, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Los Angeles Angels are trailing the Houston Astros by one run. Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is on the mound, facing Angels outfielder Taylor Ward. Valdez delivers a pitch and Ward pops it up to right field for a single. Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker fields the ball and throws it in to second baseman Jose Altuve. Altuve catches the ball and feigns a throw, but then quickly relays it to catcher Martin Maldonado, who is quietly creeping up behind Ward at first base. Maldonado smoothly applies the tag before Ward can get his foot back on the bag and the umpire immediately calls him out. "What the fuck was that?" exclaims a bewildered Ward, confused by the Astros' sneaky maneuver. Maldonado confidently walks towards the umpire, gesturing that he made the correct call. The Angels' first base coach appears caught off guard, failing to properly warn Ward of Maldonado's position. "Go check that. Go check that," Maldonado insists, urging the umpires to review the play. The replay confirms that Maldonado tagged Ward before he could get his foot back on the base and the out call stands. "I'm just so impressed. How do you pull this off with the Astros?" the commentator marvels, noting that Altuve and Maldonado must have carefully planned and practiced this "sneak attack play." As Maldonado receives congratulatory pats on the back from his teammates, the commentator observes, "People should do that more. I don't think it's possible. I don't think you can get caught sleeping that much." The unusual and well-executed play leaves the Angels and their fans stunned, while the Astros celebrate their crafty defensive maneuver.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentThe Astros pulled off one of the sneakier plays you're going to see and this one is brought to
my good friends over at SeatGeek. $20 off if you use code JOMBOY. Framber Valdez, I enjoy watching
him pitch. He's on the mound, doesn't want to throw that pitch, does want to throw that one
to Taylor Ward of the Angels who pops it into right field for a nice, easy, fun single. Tucker
throws it into Altuve who says, haha, I'm going to throw it over there. He says, okay, I'll catch
it. And he's like, oh wait, you're out. Uh-oh, what just happened? You can see Ward look at the
ump and go, oh, they ruled him safe. Maldonado, the catcher's like, no, go check that. No, go
check that. We pulled off our sneak attack play pretty, pretty perfectly. They get on the phone.
They're like, we're going to check it. Maldonado's like, yep, go look at what I did. Go look at what
I did. It was cool. Ward's like, what'd you do? What the fuck was that? I thought we were being
friends. Look at Maldonado. Now catchers always walk up or run past to follow the play, but
this is sneaky. He's creeping like walking and not wanting to wake up a baby and then gets it
and just tags him out before the heel comes down. And they're going to reverse this and say he's out.
And I'm just so impressed. How do you pull this off with the, or the Astros? Does Altuve and
Maldonado, do they, have they planned this? They've had to talk about it a bunch. Have they tried it
before? Altuve with the fake throws, like, haha, just joshing and then rips one to Maldonado. Look
what Ward does when he sees those fake throws. He's like, oh, okay. Are you giving me the ball?
That's fun. He reaches it. Look at his eyes. They're all big. He reaches out to catch it.
Then he realizes what's happening. He's like, oh shit. Talk about bad first base coach. What are
you doing? That's your job. It's basically happy Gilmore's caddy. Make sure I don't do anything
stupid. Okay. Look at this. You can see him right here. He's saying back, back, back, back, but dude,
that's a little Cavalier. Maybe yell.
He's behind you back, back. He's behind you. You know, not just back, back, back. And then
just look down and be like, oh shit. Guess that's on me a little bit. I don't really blame Taylor
Ward for this. Why would you ever think the catcher is sneaking up behind you? And they're
going to try and get you out. You're supposed to have eyes in the back of your head. First base
coach. Look at Maldonado. He's like, I told you I got him. Told you. And that woman, Maldi, Maldi,
Maldi. She's excited about it.
And the umpire says out. And Taylor Ward feels bad. Maldi gets a head pat and a back pat. And
then he's going to walk down. He's going to give Alduve a head pat. And he's going to say,
great job. That's cool. People should do that more. I don't think it's possible. I don't think
you can get caught sleeping that much. Oh, I don't know if it's good enough to be throwing your baby
up and down. You know what it is. That baby just saw something pretty cool. You want to see
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