Yasiel Puig adds to Michael Taylor’s misery with dramatic walk-off
On Wednesay night, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Washington Nationals 4-3 on what may go down as the craziest finish to a game during the entire MLB season.
With the Dodgers down a run in the ninth inning and a runner on first, Yasiel Puig hit a rocket single to center field that put them in good position to at worst tie the game.
That’s when disaster struck for Washington, as center fielder Michael Taylor allowed the baseball to scoot under his glove and roll to the wall. At that point, all heck broke loose and both Puig and lead runner Howie Kendrick were off to the races. The end result was Puig dramatically belly-flopping into home plate with the absolutely stunning winning run for the Dodgers.
It was one of those exhilarating plays that will be talked about for a long because of the circumstances involved and, let’s face it, because of the personality involved. Everything Yasiel Puig does is going to get some attention. When he hits a walk-off Little League home run, then it’s going to be the talk of the baseball world.
Here though, is it actually overshadowed by the totality of the moment, and above all the misfortune of Michael Taylor. For Taylor’s night didn’t begin and end with this defensive miscue. It actually began with one of the worst offensive performances in MLB history.
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Washington’s leadoff man finished 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. That’s a dreadful night any way you slice it, but it’s especially bad and a lot more unexpected coming from a leadoff man.
Offensive performances this futile are few and far between. When you add in the defensive mishap, it goes from disaster to worst nightmare.
Michael Taylor had the game you wouldn’t even wish on your worst enemy, but that’s the way baseball goes sometimes. When it’s going bad, the baseball will find you and add to your misery.
To Taylor’s credit though, he didn’t back down or make any excuses after the game. He had the confidence to own up to his mistakes.
That type of character will be always be rewarded. And the beautiful thing about baseball is knowing he’ll be right back on the field Friday night in Milwaukee with an opportunity to show why he belongs.
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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
