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Giants hilariously score three runs on ball that barely leaves batter's box

chris cwik
Staff writer

In the box score, San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Moore had a pretty average day at the plate. He finished the game 0-for-2, with a strikeout and one RBI.

That’s pretty common for a pitcher. A person looking at that line might assume Moore came up to the plate with a man on third and managed to bring him home on a fielder’s choice.

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While that would technically be correct, it doesn’t come close to describing the absurdity of what actually happened during the team’s 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

You see, the box score can sometimes be deceiving. Moore’s fielder’s choice actually resulted in three runs crossing the plate. And the best part: The ball traveled just 25 feet.

How exactly does that happen? With some awful defense.

Some bad defense led to the Giants scoring three runs on a weak hit Monday. (AP Photo)
Some bad defense led to the Giants scoring three runs on a weak hit Monday. (AP Photo)

With the game tied 0-0, Moore came up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. On the second pitch of the at-bat, he hit what many would describe as a swinging bunt.

Moore chopped the ball straight into the ground in front of home plate. It bounced on the dirt and began rolling up the first base line on the infield grass.

With all the runners in motion, D-Backs pitcher Taijuan Walker had to act quickly. He ran over to the ball, slid to the ground while bare-handing it and fired it home to pick up the force out.

Only, Walker acted way too fast, and his throw sailed away from catcher Jeff Mathis. By that time, one run had already scored and the second was on its way home.

Mathis sprinted to the backstop to retrieve Walker’s errant throw, slid to the ground while bare-handing the ball and fired it back to the plate. It was a mirror image of Walker’s throw.

Taijuan Walker’s throw was the start of some awful defense by Arizona. (AP Photo)
Taijuan Walker’s throw was the start of some awful defense by Arizona. (AP Photo)

And it had the same result. Mathis’ toss was off target. Walker, who was covered home to prevent more runs from scoring, couldn’t adjust his glove in time to make the catch. The ball skipped up the first base line toward Paul Goldschmidt.

With two runs already in, Goldschmidt fielded the ball a little more than halfway up the first base line. Though his throw was actually accurate, Jarrett Parker just managed to beat it out with his slide. Oh, and Moore, the guy who started the whole thing, wound up on second base.

And that’s the story of how the Giants scored three runs on a ball that barely left the batter’s box. It might look like a normal line in the box score, but in reality it was so much more than that.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik