Giants lose on the always embarrassing walk-off balk
Just when you thought this crazy week at Petco Park San Diego couldn’t get any crazier, the craziest thing possible happens.
The Padres defeated the Giants 7-6 in 10 innings on Saturday night, scoring the winning run when closer Santiago Casilla lost his balance on the hill and was called for a balk.
Yes, the ultra-rare and always embarrassing walk-off balk literally tripped up the first-place Giants and set off another celebration at Petco Park.
What an ending.
A #walkoff is great … but a #balkoff is better! https://t.co/nYpAPsnkCC pic.twitter.com/aQqYboiPsv
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 17, 2016
According to Harvard Sports Analysis, this is the 20th walk-off balk in MLB history. That makes it a true rarity, although the most recent occurrence only came last season when the Dodgers defeated the Rangers 1-0 on a Keone Kela balk.
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It was a pretty fitting ending to Saturday’s game considering how neither team seemed all that interested in taking control. San Diego started by blowing a five-run lead. Once San Francisco tied it in the sixth inning, it remained that way until the 10th. Then Buster Posey gave the Giants a short-lived lead with his first career extra-inning home run, only for Casilla to falter in the bottom half.
The only thing that seemed certain was a weird ending, and we certainly got that.
As noted, it’s also the latest memorable moment in a fun week at Petco Park. That included all of the All-Star festivities and also the cheesiest catch of the season. Needless to say, they’ll be talking about this week for a long time in San Diego.
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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!
