Margot tries to steal home in the World Series, a breakdown
What Happened
In Game 5 of the 2020 World Series, Rays outfielder Manuel Margot got himself to third base after Will Smith muffed a pickoff throw into shallow right and Margot took the extra base on Chris Taylor's recovery. With no outs and the tying run 90 feet away, Margot eventually broke for home against Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw stepped off, first baseman Max Muncy pointed and yelled, and the throw to catcher Austin Barnes nailed Margot at the plate. Margot's own helmet smacked him in the face on the slide, leaving him with a bloody lip and the inning over.
Why This Matters
Stealing home on Kershaw isn't random. He buries his head and locks into a pre-pitch routine, so he literally can't see the runner once he's set, which is why Muncy's job was to be his eyes. The mechanic that mattered most was the step-off. Kershaw had to come off the rubber before throwing home, otherwise he balks, and that extra beat is what Margot was betting would buy him the plate. It didn't. The throw beat him clean to Barnes' tag on the wrist. Then it got worse for Tampa Bay: Muncy turned around the next inning and crushed a 99 mph fastball into the right field seats. The Dodgers won 4-2 and took a 3-2 series lead, then closed it out in Game 6 for their first title since 1988.
At 1.5M views it sits at #180 of 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, top 11.4% of the catalog and one of his most-watched World Series clips.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Clayton Kershaw, Manuel Margot. Teams: Rays.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentwe had a big attempt of stealing home in
game five of the world series
kershaw on the bump this one's brought
to you by draftkings we got Manny Margot
in the box
one one is the count kershaw drops the
curve manny doesn't bite
2-1 he goes back to the fastball trying
to find that low zone doesn't get the
call i don't think it was there
then then he puts the little cutter
slider off of the fastball this is a
great combination of pitches i mean
right there
they're the same pitch basically and
then it falls off the table
manny swings at it kershaw's back in the
count full count tries to get him
chasing again
manny says no thank you then he steals
second
first pitch and i'm not sure why taylor
doesn't just catch this ball he's safe
no matter what
i mean they didn't throw him as a good
jump by manny but he misses the ball
and here's where it gets interesting
because it goes into shallow right field
and at this point taylor's pretty close
to that ball
manny hasn't broke for third yet but he
decides
nah screw it i think i can make it to
third so then they keep going taylor
actually now he makes it a very
athletic play the sliding pickup the
perfect throw to turner
man he beats it out he stays on the bag
they replay it he's safe he bangs his
hand against the ground and now he gets
a good look
at kershaw who's in his motion here
going home
manny's standing on third you got a
runner on third no outs the tying run in
a world series game
kershaw comes home to renfro he's gonna
walk renfro
count went 3-2 then he gets wendell to
pop up huge out there
then adamus comes up he has forgotten to
bring his bat to the world series he
strikes out
on three pitches and now huge at bat so
kershaw exhales
kiermeier exhales and let's do it they
got to get this run across but they're
now there's two outs kmart fouls one
back he's had some big hits this series
and now you can see manny sizing up
kershaw
looking at him muncie's at first let's
see what happens
manny breaks for home kershaw steps off
throws home and they get him out
and manny says no no no no safe let's
take a replay let's take a replay so
sure
let's take a little replay now kershaw's
got this motion
people have tried to steal home on him
before because of this because he brings
his hands up builds himself a little
house
that's his domain that's his safe space
getting his mind right before throwing
the pitch
manny breaks for home now it gets
interesting because kershaw has to step
off so he doesn't balk he steps off
fires it home a nice tag by
barnes did he get him yep
right on the wrist there before he
touches home plate
real nice and to add insult to injury
the helmet attacks manny
while he's sliding busts open his lip
now he's got you know he ended the
inning at home and a bloody lip not good
muncie with the huge assist here go home
go home go home
and what's cool is how quickly kirsch
gets this ball
to home after muncie lets him know
because now kershaw said
in an interview hey when i'm in this
place when i'm in my safe space
i'm not going to look at him anymore so
he's told his first baseman
you got to let me know if they're going
or not so muncie goes
points and look how quickly kershaw
steps off and gets the ball home from
the first point ready here it is
point fired home
out a lot of people are like how do you
not block because it's crazy
he has to step off so you can see him
step off the other option is to just
throw the pitch
but if you throw the pitch the catcher
has to stay behind the dish he can't pop
up
uh and go into the opposing batters box
to catch the ball and all that it has to
be
you know a real pitch this is what his
wind-up would have looked like if he
didn't step
off how much slower it would have been
probably would have been safe
it's a really good play by kershaw he
steps off really good play by muncie to
get the assist and then muncie comes up
in the next inning and just
slams the 99 mile per hour fastball into
the right field seats
pimps the out of it big swing in
the game
big swing race had a shot and then they
blew it muncie capitalizes
Bellinger says please don't hurt me
don't hurt me don't hurt me go gentle go
gentle go gentle please please please
okay
little baby tap muncie loves it he's
smiling this one's brought to you by
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