About to head back to the Twin Cites. But let's look at a couple plays from the Twins-Angels game on Sunday:
1. Ehire Adrianza took off for second during a pitch to Robbie Grossman in the ninth inning, and when Grossman socked it to the gap in right-center, it seemed as if Adrianza should have scored the lead run easily.
Then Adrianza was thrown out at home, and we all wanted to know why.
Adrianza was more than halfway to second when Grossman drove the ball to the gap. Adrianza stopped short of second to make sure the ball was going to fall. To do this, he watched for the Angels outfielders to see if their backs were turned to him, chasing the ball.
"I saw Chris Young," Adrianza said. "When he turned his back, I was going for sure. Everything was fine after that. It was a pretty good relay."
Twins third base coach Gene Glynn shouted at Adrianza as he rounded third to go in hard (he knew it was going to be close), and he tried. But Adrianza was thrown out by a hair at home plate. Twins manager Paul Molitor was going to ask the umpires to review the plate either way, given the point of the game. The review didn't take long.
The Angels got the ball back in perfectly to get Adrianza - but he should have scored.
I think the play broke down when he waited to see the outfielders. Baserunners are taught to peek at the plate when they take off for second. He would have seen the ball off the bat, and made a better decision.
"I just slowed up a little bit between first and second because I was trying to read the ball, but he got me," Adrianza said. "I was out for sure."
