Derek Norris hits walkoff grand slam after striking out four times
San Diego Padres catcher Derek Norris was having a miserable night on Friday night, having struck out in each of his first four plate appearances.
How bad was it? Norris was the only player in the league to achieve the undesired “golden sombrero” among the 15 MLB games played on Friday night. Needless to say, that would be an awkward and lonely feeling if that’s all his night was remembered for. Fortunately for him, there was one more chance to rewrite the narrative.
In the ninth inning, Norris not only had an opportunity to erase our memories, he had an opportunity to do something unique as he walked to the plate with the game tied, two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
He did all of the above, hitting a walkoff grand slam off Pittsburgh’s Rob Scahill.
Pretty cool?
Yeah, we’d say that’s pretty cool.
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Historic even?
As the saying goes, Norris went from the outhouse to the penthouse in a matter of seconds.
The Padres had actually loaded the bases with nobody out, but Alexi Amarista and Yangervis Solarte were unable to get grounders through Pittsburgh’s five-man infield. That resulted in two fielder’s choice putouts at home and put all of the pressure on a struggling Norris.
Needless to say, he responded, and now the Padres are celebrating perhaps their biggest win of the season.
On the other side, Pittsburgh saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end. At 25-23, they’re now seven games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
