Josh Harrison's slide will leave you speechless; the best of Tuesday night's baseball
Tuesday night offered a play you may never see again, one of the best slugfests of the year and a career achievement for one of baseball's great managers. Here's what you may have missed while you were sleeping or binge watching Master of None.
1. Josh Harrison provided one of the most acrobatic slides you'll ever see
If you're a Pirates' fan, then you're familiar with the versatility of Josh Harrison, who is one of the most valuable utilitymen in baseball, earned All-Star recognition in 2014, and represented Team USA in the World Baseball Classic this season. He also has a stunning, seemingly supernatural ability to avoid tags. Even by his lofty standards, he may have offered his best performance yet in the Pirates' 8–4 loss to the Nationals on Tuesday night.
Harrison isn't new to this kind of thing. Remember his escaping of this rundown against the Mets?
Or this one against the Rockies?
Harrison's newest addition to his compendium of thrilling plays drew high praise from manager Clint Hurdle, who raved to MLB.com's Adam Berry after the game.
"He plays the game with his heart outside his chest. I've never seen anybody avoid tags like he does. I think it'd be a waste of my time telling him, 'Hey, could you slow down? Could you be a little more careful?' That's one of the things that got him to the big leagues, keeps him playing, got him to an All-Star Game is that zest, that effort, that energy to play."
He's baseball's most elusive baserunner, and we can only hope he has more tricks in store for the future.
2. The Orioles and Tigers played a wild one
You seldom see 13–11 final scores outside of Coors Field, and the Orioles and Tigers combined for a rollicking 13-inning ride at Comerica Park on Tuesday night. Chris Davis hit two go-ahead home runs in extra innings, the second of which secured the Orioles' victory after the Tigers came back from three down in the 12th inning to tie it.
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The game had no shortage of drama. J.D. Martinez, playing in just his fourth game after starting the season on the disabled list, smashed two home runs—including a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning—to bring the Tigers all the way back from an early 7–1 deficit. The Tigers took that 8–7 lead into the ninth inning before Mark Trumbo smacked a game-tying home run to force extra innings. The game remained tied until the 12th, when Davis hit the first of his go-ahead home runs before the Orioles added two insurance runs. The Tigers came back in the 12th to log three RBI singles off of Donnie Hart. The barrage of extra-inning runs made a real mess of broadcaster Jim Palmer's scorecard.
Then, Davis arrived again. The slugger's towering 13th-inning shot off of the struggling Francisco Rodriguez was his fourth homer in his last five games, and he's showing signs of his magnificent power after a slow start to the season. If the Orioles want to make another darkhorse run to the playoffs, Davis's power is essential to their success.
3. Albert Pujols logged a career achievement
The Angels' power hitter is off to a bit of a sluggish start to the 2017 season, but he managed two key RBIs in the Angels 7–6 extra-inning win over the White Sox last night. Pujols passed Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski on the all-time RBI list with a third-inning base hit off of Derek Holland, placing him at No. 11 all-time according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Pujols padded his career total in the 11th inning with a walk-off single off of David Robertson, giving him 1,847 for his career and lifting the Angels back to a .500 record at 21–21. The single also doinked off of poor Leury Garcia's face when he was just trying to make a play on the ball.
4. So did Joe Maddon
The Cubs manager reached a nice round number for his career by logging his 1,000th career win in the Cubs' 9–5 win over the Reds. The Cubs rode four home runs from Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Ian Happ and Anthony Rizzo to outslug the Reds and give Maddon, who needed 31 years of coaching before his first big league managing gig, his 1,000th win. Maddon became the 63rd manager of all-time and the eighth active skipper to achieve 1,000 wins. He celebrated with a generous pour of red wine and was toasted by his players.
5. The best dingers of the night
— Kyle Schwarber in the Cubs' win over the Reds.
— Jake Marisnick went long off the Marlins' home run sculpture in the Astros' 12–2 thrashing of Miami.
— Corey Dickerson cleared the centerfield trees at Progressive Field in the Rays' 6–4 win over the Indians.
— Bryce Harper kept up his red-hot hitting with this shot in the Nationals' 8–4 win over the Pirates.
