Melvin Upton Jr. pulls off straight steal of home with crazy slide
all of the wrong reasons. However, in Friday’s 4-0 win against the Rockies, they looked like a confident and aggressive team, while the Rockies slid into the role of “miserable failures.”
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One play really highlighted how far apart the teams were on this given night. It happened in the fourth inning when San Diego loaded the bases against Rockies left-hander Chris Rusin.
Melvin Upton Jr. was the runner on the third base, but he wasn’t there for long. After noticing Rusin going into the windup, he bolted for home and executed the rare straight steal of the plate.
As you can see from this angle, the Rockies weren’t completely caught off guard. Catcher Nick Hundley and third baseman Nolan Arenado, who were involved in a heated discussion earlier in the game, both saw it coming in time. But Upton simply finished the play stronger and smarter, executing an incredible slide to get around Hundley’s tag.
Communication played a key role in the play with the right-handed hitting Drew Pomeranz at the plate. Pomeranz wasn’t completely sure what was going on until he heard Upton scream, then he knew not to swing.
“I’m glad he screamed because I probably would have swung at it, and it wouldn’t have been very good,” Pomeranz said. “I had gotten pretty nervous there. I didn’t know what to do so I just took a step back.”
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The run didn’t end up being important. The Rockies only managed two hits all night, as they were shut down by former pitcher Drew Pomeranz. But it added to the embarrassment of their awful week. The Rockies have lost four and five to the Reds and Padres and are now a season-worst six games under .500.
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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