BOSTON -- With 444 home runs in his 17-year Major League career, Nelson Cruz is used to rounding the bases at a slow jog -- the way he covered the last 90 feet in the fourth inning Monday afternoon at Fenway Park, not so much the first 270 feet.
It took a high fly ball, the afternoon sun interfering with center fielder Alex Verdugo’s effort to catch it and an errant throw from second baseman Taylor Motter sailing into the third-base camera well. But Cruz pulled off a wild and unlikely Little League grand slam that vaulted the Rays right back into their series opener against the Red Sox.
Facing Chris Sale with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth, Cruz skied a 2-2 slider to center field. After taking one step onto the warning track, Verdugo reached to catch Cruz’s fly ball but missed, instead knocking it toward right-center field with his glove. Taylor Walls, Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco scored as the ball rolled in front of Boston’s bullpen, and Cruz hustled to third base.
Motter airmailed the relay throw to third, however, so Cruz hopped up and trotted home. The play was initially ruled a triple -- it would’ve been Cruz’s second of the season and only the 15th of his career -- with an error charged to Motter. However, a scoring change corrected the ruling to include a three-base error by Verdugo, a throwing error charged to Motter and no RBIs for Cruz.
As entertaining as the play turned out to be, it was also important for the Rays. Tampa Bay seemed to be out of the game after left-hander Ryan Yarbrough allowed six runs in the second inning, putting them in a 7-1 hole, but that play made it a two-run game.
September 07, 2021 at 03:00AM
https://www.mlb.com/news/nelson-cruz-hits-little-league-grand-slam
Cruz hits 'slam' like you've never seen - MLB.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=little&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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