No one loses baseball games quite like the Los Angeles Angels.
In the ninth inning of the 51-65 Angels’ game against the Mariners Monday night, the two teams were locked in a 2-2 tie with Seattle star Julio Rodriguez at the plate, runners at the corners and one out. Rodriguez smoked a line drive right at second baseman Luis Rengifo – who had a chance to make the catch and the second out, but turned it into one of the worst defensive sequences you’ll ever see on a baseball diamond.
First, Rengifo dropped the ball. Then, because Rodriguez was already screaming down the first base line and a double play was unlikely, he threw the ball home as Sam Haggerty tried to score. Haggerty appeared to be caught in a rundown – until the Angels failed to properly cover home plate, allowing him to score and the Mariners to take the lead.
In the ensuing chaos, Dylan Moore managed to go from first to third, beating the throw. Everyone safe, 3-2 Seattle.
Angels fans were visibly upset, but the debacle did not stop there. The next batter was Ty France, who dribbled a weak ground ball to shortstop Andrew Velazquez. Instead of going for the double play, which would have ended the inning, Velazquez threw home to try to get Moore out as he ran home from third.
The throw was good – and would have gotten the runner out had catcher Max Stassi caught the ball. But it went off his glove, and Moore scored. Error, 4-2 Mariners. France got to second and Rodriguez to third as the ball skipped to the backstop.
Incorrect. The misery continued from there.
The next batter for the Mariners was Jesse Winker, who hit a ground ball to third base. Jose Rojas bobbled the ball briefly, eliminating any chance at throwing out Rodriguez as he ran home from third. 5-2 Mariners.
Seattle ended up winning 6-2 after J.P. Crawford singled a couple batters later.
It’s been a miserable season in Anaheim despite the team having a generational talent in Shohei Ohtani on the roster. Ohtani started the game as a pitcher and gave up two runs in six innings, but it wasn’t enough.