The Dodgers lost to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night when 23-year-old Dodgers rookie outfielder Andy Pages made a rookie mistake.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Dodgers catcher Will Smith on first base (having led off the inning with a single to left) and with his team trailing 3-1, the popular La Habana, Cuba native reached first base on a five-pitch walk representing the tying run. His walk was followed by a clutch double to right-center field by Dodger right fielder Jason Heyward scoring Smith. The ball was momentarily bobbled by Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras.
For reasons only he knows, that brief bobble caused Pages to completely ignore Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel‘s stop sign, as Taveras fired an absolute bullet to Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien who, in turn, fired a dart to Rangers catcher Jonah Heim to nail Pages at the plate by a good four feet.
(SportsNet LA)
“No, I didn’t see Dino’s stop sign. I saw the center fielder bobble the ball and I just kept going,” Pages answered the obvious question postgame through an interpreter. “I knew I was going to get to third base easily when I saw him bobble the ball. I knew I was going to try to score no matter what, ’cause I knew I was the tying run.”
The unasked (and burning) question was: If you knew you were “…going to get to third base easily,” why on earth wouldn’t you with your 49 games of MLB experience be looking directly at Dino Ebel with his 18 years of MLB experience?
A rookie mistake if ever there was one.
Play Ball!
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