It’s a mystery. Why did Austin Nola, 34, San Diego Padres, fumble his bat?
Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, USA, on July 21. Down 2-0, the San Diego Padres had a golden opportunity to tie the game with back-to-back singles by Ha-Sung Kim and Trent Grisham in the bottom of the first inning. At the plate was catcher Austin Nola. Nola has been unproductive this season, batting .144 with one home run and seven RBIs.
Naturally, manager Bob Melvin’s game plan 메이저사이트 came out. And it looked like it. As soon as San Francisco starter Anthony Descalpani got into his pitching stance, third baseman Ha-Sung Kim broke for home. Descalpani threw a slider outside.
It was a squeeze bunt. By definition, a squeeze bunt requires the pitcher to run before the batter has even laid down the bunt. It’s a risky play that increases the probability of scoring, even with the runner on base. To reduce this risk, there are certain things you must do. The batter must make contact with the ball somehow. A foul ball is a dead ball.
Descalpani’s first-pitch slider was a difficult pitch for Nola to bunt accurately, but since Kim had already broken his start, he had to either fly out, put the ball on the ground with his bat, or at least foul it off. With Kim’s quick start, there was a good chance that Nola would be safe at home if she put the bunt on the ground.
But Nola fumbled the bat and then pulled it back. That means he misunderstood the sign. Of course, it’s possible that the bench didn’t give the squeeze sign and Kim misunderstood it. However, given the flow of the game and Kim’s focus, it’s more likely that Nola made a mistake.
Nola’s failure to bunt was costly. San Francisco catcher Patrick Bailey, who fielded the ball, had plenty of time to see Kim, who had already started to run home. He quickly fired to third baseman J.D. Davis. Davis waited for Kim to return to third base and tagged him.
San Diego added a run in the fifth, but fell short in the bottom of the ninth, 3-4. The back-to-back blowout losses keep them in fourth place in the National League West. If the Padres are going to bounce back, they’ll need to improve their success rate in squeezing one run out of the game. Nola’s failed bunt allowed Ha-Sung Kim to reach base.