11-pitch battle ends with an odd home run, a breakdown
What Happened
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco steps up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, with his team trailing the Boston Red Sox 3-1. This is a high-stakes, divisional matchup between two young, talented teams vying for playoff positioning in the American League. Franco, a 21-year-old rookie phenom, engages in an epic 11-pitch battle with Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck, another promising young arm. The at-bat is a classic display of cat-and-mouse between the hitters and pitcher, with both sides making adjustments and trying to gain the upper hand. Houck starts by trying to establish his fastball, but Franco fouls it off, showing he's sitting dead-red on the heater. The pitcher then mixes in some offspeed pitches, but Franco lays off, waiting for the right pitch to attack. On a 3-2 count, Houck tries to sneak a fastball by Franco, but the Rays shortstop is locked in. He turns on the pitch and drives it deep to left field. The ball hits the wall, then ricochets up and over the fence, resulting in a bizarre, inside-the-park home run. "That's a home run!" shouts the umpire, as the Rays dugout erupts in celebration. "What a battle!" exclaims the TV announcer. Franco rounds the bases, high-fiving his teammates who pour out of the dugout to greet him. "I was just trying to put the ball in play," Franco says in a postgame interview. "I knew he was going to challenge me with the fastball, so I was ready for it." The home run ties the game at 3-3, energizing the Rays and their fans. The next batter, Randy Arozarena, then crushes a towering shot off the Green Monster, giving Tampa Bay the lead. The Rays go on to win the game, further tightening their grip on the AL East division. This back-and-forth affair between two of the league's brightest young stars is a perfect example of the drama and unpredictability that makes baseball so captivating. Franco's grit and talent shone through in the clutch, delivering a signature moment in an already promising career.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentwe had a really fun 11 pitch battle
between two rookies tanner hawk and
wander franco reyes and red sox from a
couple weeks ago this one's brought to
you by draftkings the number one
sportsbook app when you download the app
use promo code jomboy to let him know i
sent ya and then just bet on the rays to
win because they're so good and all they
do is win and as a yankee fan it's
infuriating but here watch this battle
now either franco steps up to the plate
with a predetermined plan saying i'm
going to attack the fastball or after
taking this fastball for strike one he
kind of says yes i'm gonna attack that
pitch that's the one i want because he's
gonna be dead red fastball this entire
at-bat and everyone kind of knows it but
no one can do anything about it the next
pitch is off speed that's like a split
change that's very non-competitive just
stays away the entire time franco
doesn't even blink then they go fastball
little outside he's late on it they're
going to go fastball again he's going to
be right on this but fouls it straight
back now the catcher knows he's right on
that so he's like hey let's get away
from the fastball pitcher says no i want
to throw another one so he shakes to an
inside fastball and now franco's rocking
and rolling and bam he's on that one but
now he's ahead so he's kind of timed it
up a little every single which way now
it's one and two as a pitcher you still
have
chances to get him to swing at a pitch
that's not in the zone you're three
pitches ahead you can throw three more
balls you only need one more strike
so he's thinking he's thinking he's
thinking he likes the fastball but he's
understanding he probably should go away
from it
one two pitch coming they're gonna go
slider back foot slider decent pitch
almost gets franco going but no takes it
two and two back to the fastball outside
fouled off that's the pitch he's
swinging at so here's the breakdown
you went
fastball strike looking split finger
non-competitive ball fastball fouled it
back late fastball right on it fastball
fouled it again slider ball fastball
fouled it back again so you're looking
at this you either need to make a hell
of a pitch with the fastball or you got
to try something off speed here while
you still got the chance to throw
another ball so the 2-2 pitch coming
he's thinking he's looking which pitcher
they're going to go with the split
change again and that's just as
non-competitive as the first one a ball
from his hand to the glove and franco
doesn't even care so now
they got to figure it out 3-2 you don't
want to walk them you want to attack
them it's rookie on rookie we're having
fun they get together and they say let's
go with the slider he's hunting the
fastball let's go slide her in the zone
let's be ballsy let's get it done here's
where franco wins the at-bat he fouls
that one off that's not the pitch he's
looking for but it's 3-2 so he's in
protect mode then they try to call a
fastball again he says no let's throw
the slider again because i got him
swinging at that one so if i get him
swinging at this one maybe he swings and
misses or induces weak contact or what
of it and franco just fouls that one
back as well so now they finally go all
right dude we gotta throw a fastball
it's just gotta be our fastball first
his fastball swing we gotta attack him
let's see what happens here's the pitch
one two three fastball bam middle middle
not a great location on a 3-2 fastball
and that is
a home run
a double they throw it in the second fr
franco's like wait hold up everyone's
like hold up cash is like hold up hold
up let's take a look what the hell just
happened the umpires are going to get
together and talk about it and this is a
weird
fenway park rule because it hits the
wall
on the left of the yellow line which is
a double but
it ricochets onto the roof which is
behind the fence
this can't really happen at a lot of
other parks where it hits the front
facing of a wall
in play
and ricochets out of play
and they get together like what do you
think it was what do you think oh wait
are you saying what i think you're
saying it hit the wall but then it went
over so it's so that's a home run right
yeah it's a home run yeah home run
franco did it what a battle man 11 pitch
at bat went up there hunting fastball
made him throw all his pitches fouled
off the sliders enough got to it gets to
celebrate with his friends they're all
happy and they go up three to one
weird rule
but that's why baseball's fun all these
quirky fields if every field was cookie
cutter it would be boring in the 80s
they did a lot of cookie cutter stadiums
and people did not like it because they
were kind of boring and ugly
oddities are what make baseball so fun
next pitch fastball absolutely rocked
off the monster that bounces off the
monster but into the field of play so
that's just a single and hawks day is
done and tampa just does it because
they're so good and it's infuriating
go to draftkings
promo code john boy bet on the raise to
win so all i do is just win
that's all they do so just go draftkings
and bet on the rays
don't even watch the games
don't need to