Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez unexpectedly ran toward the mound during an at-bat between Craig Kimbrel and Shohei Ohtani, causing confusion on the field. Both Ohtani and the umpire had to dodge out of Alvarez's path as Kimbrel paused his pitch.
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They'll go down as a couple of the oddest seconds on an MLB field this season.
There was New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez sprinting partway to the pitcher's mound in the middle of an at bat between reliever Craig Kimbrel and Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani and the home plate umpire both scramble out of the way behind Alvarez.
Kimbrel, after not noticing at first, eventually holds onto the baseball rather than throw home.
Here's the clip:
It's definitely not something you see every day.
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Alvarez was trying to get Kimbrel's attention.
The catcher called time, but he realized that the legendary reliever wasn't looking at home plate when that happened. Alvarez sensed, seemingly rightly, that Kimbrel was still going to throw a pitch.
And because Alvarez knew that his timeout call would potentially cause movements for Ohtani or the umpire around him, he wanted to make sure a baseball wasn't flung toward home plate that didn't count.
It was all made more dramatic by the fact that it took Kimbrel so long to see him, which almost called on Alvarez to do even more movement than he would've otherwise.
In the end, all's well that ends well. But it was quite the brief scene.
Alvarez's sprint toward the mound was unexpected and created confusion, but the specific reason for his action was not detailed.
Both Shohei Ohtani and the home plate umpire scrambled out of the way to avoid Alvarez as he ran toward the mound.
Craig Kimbrel initially did not notice Alvarez's movement but eventually held onto the baseball instead of pitching.
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