Mexican Playoff Series Ends on Chaotic Attempted Steal of Home

You’ve never seen a baseball game end the way the one between the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna and Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League did on Tuesday night. 

It was the sixth game of the best-of-seven Zona Norte Championship Series (the equivalent of MLB’s LCS), with Laguna ahead three games to two. A dramatic bottom of the ninth inning saw former Brewers first-round pick Henry Gatewood hit a home run to cut Laguna’s lead to 3–2. With two outs, Cade Gotta hit a triple to put the tying run on third for Laredo with two outs.

That’s when things got wild. Out of nowhere, with an 0–2 count on batter Alonzo Harris, Gotta sprinted toward home. But the defense sniffed out his attempted steal and Gotta was going to be out by such a wide margin that his best hope of being called safe was to try to run straight through the catcher. It didn’t work. 

And that’s how the game—and the series—ended. Gotta was tagged out for the 27th out of the game. Laredo lost the game and the series and now Laguna will play in the Serie del Rey against the Pericos de Puebla. But the drama didn’t end there. After Gotta’s unnecessarily violent play, both benches cleared. 

What was Gotta thinking? He’s apparently pretty speedy (he stole 21 bases in 66 games this season), but that’s such a massive risk to take with your team’s season on the line. If it worked out, it would have been an amazing play. Instead, Gotta just looks like a fool for recklessly barreling into home with the game on the line.