Game-winning hit by pitch negated by swing, a breakdown
What Happened
The Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins are locked in a tight 2-2 contest in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, the White Sox have a chance to walk-off with a victory. Brock Stewart, the Twins' reliever, takes the mound, determined to escape the high-pressure situation. Stewart starts the at-bat with a well-placed four-seam fastball for a strike. He follows it up with a nasty slider that freezes the batter, making it an 0-2 count. Showing great pitch sequencing, Stewart goes back to the slider, getting the batter to swing and miss for strike three. However, the drama is far from over. As the batter swings, the pitch hits him, potentially leading to a game-winning hit-by-pitch for the White Sox. The batter immediately reacts, raising his hands and appearing to be in pain. The White Sox dugout erupts, believing they have just won the game. But the umpire rules that the batter swung the bat, resulting in a strikeout to end the inning. White Sox manager Tony La Russa is visibly frustrated, arguing the call with the umpire. The replay shows that the batter's instinctive reaction to the hit-by-pitch caused his bat to move through the strike zone, leading the umpire to rule it a swing. "I blinked. I don't know," La Russa says, expressing his confusion and disappointment over the outcome. Brock Stewart, the Twins' pitcher, has shown exceptional pitch selection and execution, mixing his four-seam fastball and slider effectively to keep the White Sox hitters off balance. His ability to establish the fastball and then surprise the batter with the sharp-breaking slider proves to be a winning formula in this crucial at-bat. Despite the dramatic conclusion, the game remains tied at 2-2 as the teams head to the next inning. The tension in the stadium is palpable, and the outcome of this closely contested game remains uncertain. Both teams will need to regroup and refocus as they continue their battle for the win.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentTwins and White Sox tied up at two runs apiece.
The bases are loaded.
There's one out.
If this batter reaches base in any way, it's a walk-off win for the White Sox,
be it hit, be it error, be it walk, be it hit by pitch.
He reaches, they win.
This breakdown is brought to you by DraftKings, and look what happens.
Brock Stewart, I just became a fan of him.
Now, they say that's a four-seam on screen, but that had a lot of movement,
like a two-seam strike one and then a slider strike two.
Those play off each other pretty well, huh?
Then 0-2, and I love that 0-2 pitch.
He goes for the sweeping slider.
They get him to swing at something that's bad.
You got to trust your catcher that he's going to get over there and grab it
because base is loaded.
Wild pitch, pass ball, the game's over too.
One and two count.
Slider again.
That one's fouled off, and then, oh, boy, what happened?
I'll tell you what happened.
After all those sliders,
he went to that two-seam again, which goes the opposite direction,
and the batter got his hands out, and then it hits him.
If it's a hit-by-pitch, the White Sox win, but if it's a strike, he's out.
It's a strikeout.
He's saying, I didn't get hit.
I just threw my hands up after it hit me because it hurt,
and there's some credence to, like, what he's saying.
Actually, I don't know what the rule is.
White Sox manager's like, what the?
I blinked.
I don't know.
Boom, and he throws his bat, and they're like,
that's a swing.
I don't know.
I'll leave it up to you guys.
I'm kind of curious.
Like, you could argue.
I mean, it's definitely a swing.
I would rule swing, but when it hits him, like, if it doesn't hit him,
is he able to pull back?
Probably not because the momentum is going to carry his bat a little bit more,
but if he was able to just stop on a dime and go back, you could say no swing,
but as soon as it hits him, the pain and his reaction does.
He just takes that left hand.
His right hand comes off, and his left hand just throws the bat through the zone,
and that's the swing.
So it would have been a game-winning hit-by-pitch had he checked his swing.
It would have been very interesting if he didn't, you know,
throw his bat afterwards because, look, it hits him, and then,
or maybe he throws his bat to kind of play it off like that.
No, you can't be doing that in the heat of the moment.
Very interesting situation.
White Sox should have just won there, but he swung at it,
and they ruled it a swing.
So instead.
It's an out, and look at the two pitches.
If you're like, why did he do that?
That's nasty.
He did so many sliders in a row, so he's leaning.
He's leaning to attack that slider, and then he busts him in with that two-seam fastball
that runs in, and it hits him.
That's crazy.
So now the next batter comes up, and he opens him up with the slider,
and then off of that goes slider again, and now what's he going to do?
Same thing.
Go the other way.
Nope.
Another slider, but that's three in a row.
What's he going to do now?
The other way?
Yup.
Same thing.
Gets him.
Nasty.
This is my favorite pitching overlay I've made this season
because they go so deep before breaking.
Look at this.
That's crazy.
Brock Stewart, your pitches are cool, and I enjoy them.
Damn.
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