Dee Gordon makes it to third on a bunt single and has way too much fun doing it
On Thursday night, the Philadelphia Phillies, baseball’s worst team, executed a truly tragic play while they were playing the Miami Marlins. You know the type — the kind that should have circus music or the Benny Hill theme playing behind it. Biffed throws, missed catches, the play had it all.
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And that’s not a figure of speech. It really, truly had it all. Because while the Phillies were scrambling around the field, Dee Gordon turned a bunt single into a “triple” and had the time of his life doing it.
This glorious play happened in the fifth inning. The Phillies were leading 3-1, and Gordon was leading off. He laid down a bunt that slowly rolled back toward the mound and started sprinting up the first base line. Pitcher Ben Lively got to the ball, and that’s where the circus music started. Lively made a throw to first that was both weak and offline. It missed first baseman Rhys Hoskins by about three feet while simultaneously dying at the first base line and bounding away.
Gordon saw what happened immediately and didn’t stop. He made a big turn around first and ran toward second, windmilling his arms in a truly spectacular full-body run. Behold this amazing gif from MLB.com’s Cut4.
He slid into second, but it wasn’t over yet. Second baseman Cesar Hernandez had corralled the ball behind first base and threw it to shortstop Freddy Galvis as Gordon was sliding. That didn’t go well, either. Hernandez’s throw was short and the ball skipped into the outfield. Gordon popped right up and ran to third, where he was in safe without a throw.
It wasn’t a triple, not with two errors on the play. But it was still a triumph worth celebrating, and Gordon did just that in this gif that’s also from Cut4.
It was a great moment for Gordon, but not a great moment for the Phillies defense. Gordon would score two batters later when Christian Yelich knocked a double, bringing the Marlins within one.
The Marlins couldn’t score any more runs after that, and the Phillies would end up winning 3-2. It was a low-scoring affair in which neither Rhys Hoskins or Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run, which is always a bummer. But Dee Gordon didn’t need any dingers — he made his own fun.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
