NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees rookie Spencer Jones made some bizarre baseball history in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series, becoming the first player to strike out starting and ending a postseason inning in which he also scored.
With the Yankees leading Boston 2-1 on Wednesday night, Jones reached leading off the sixth after swinging over Garrett Crochet's sweeper in the dirt. Jones reached on the wild pitch and scored to spark a six-run inning
that ended when he swung over Garrett Whitlock's slider. New York went on to a 9-2 win for a two-game sweep and a Division Series matchup with AL East champion Tampa Bay.
The Elias Sports Bureau said Thursday that no player had ever scored in a postseason inning he started and ended by striking out. Elias also determined no player had done that in the regular season since the expansion era began in 1969.
“Baseball can be a wacky sport,” Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger said. “You see something new every day.”
Jones sprinted to first base when Crochet's sweeper bounced off Adley Rutschman’s chest. The catcher picked up the ball and threw to first, where umpire John Libka signaled that Jones was out. The Yankees appealed and the call was reversed by the video umpire at the commissioner’s office.
“It’s a great thing to be able to get on the bases I guess any way possible, but I was always told if you run hard, good things are going to happen, and that turned out to be the case,” Jones said.
It turned out to be perhaps the key moment of the game.
“I couldn’t believe he was there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I saw the ball squirt away a little bit. I didn’t think that much of it, and looked up and I was, like, ’Oh, he’s safe.'"
Jones stole second and kept going to third when Rutschman’s throw skipped into center field for an error. New York then broke open the game on rookie George Lombard Jr.'s RBI single against Crochet, Austin Wells' sacrifice fly against Whitlock, Ryan McMahon's run-scoring groundout and a three-run homer by Bellinger that followed an intentional walk to Ben Rice.
A third-generation major leaguer who has been around big league clubhouses since he was a toddler, Boone was asked after the game whether he had ever struck out twice and scored in the same inning.
“Probably," he said, rubbing his chin.
Then, he pointed a finger as his eyes brightened.
“Ah, in the regionals my junior year, I led off, I made two outs and walked," he said, before breaking into a smile and adding: "I'm assuming I scored.”
Southern California's media information department was able to find the documentation proving Boone was correct.
In the NCAA Tournament South Region semifinal at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 28, 1994, Boone led off for the Trojans and played third base against UNC Greensboro. He flied out to right field leading off the first inning and the next seven batters got hits as USC took a 7-0 lead.
After a groundout, Boone walked and came around to score on a single by fellow future major leaguer Gabe Alvarez. With the Trojans ahead 13-0, Boone hit a bases-loaded, inning-ending flyout to right as the 19th batter of the inning.
Southern Cal won 25-9 but lost to LSU the next day in the regional final.
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