The San Francisco Giants looked dead to rights in the second game of their three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night, but Patrick Bailey had other ideas. The Phillies led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, in large part thanks to a two-run homer from Kyle Schwarber, but the Giants had a rally in them.
After getting two guys on base, Bailey stepped up in the No. 9 hole as the winning run that could give the Giants a 2-0 lead in the series. However, not even he could have imagined how he would end up getting the job done.
Bailey ripped a ball high and deep out to right-center field that he thought was a home run. After the 26-year old stood and watched the ball for a second, he got on his horse as it ricocheted off the top of the wall in triples alley and ran all the way out to left field.
The strange deflection got past Brandon Marsh, giving Bailey the time to make it all the way around the bases for a walk-off inside-the-park home run.
That was just the 32nd walk-off home run that didn’t leave the ballpark in MLB history, according to the Phillies local broadcast. However, that wasn’t even the most impressive stat that came from this incredibly play.
With this walk-off, Bailey became the first catcher in nearly 100 years to record a walk-off inside-the-park homer. The last one took place on Aug. 11, 1926 by Bennie Tate, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The 4-3 win gives the Giants a guaranteed series win over the current leaders in the NL East as the All-Star break quickly approaches. Now, San Francisco will go for the sweep in front of its home crowd on Wednesday night in what would certainly be a huge statement to the rest of the National League.
The Giants have gotten themselves into the playoff picture with a lot of good baseball, but sometimes a little luck also goes a long way. That’s what they got with the crazy bounce off the wall on Tuesday night, and Bailey took full advantage to create a moment he and his team will remember forever.
