KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chris Parmelee stole his second base as a major leaguer on Monday. For about a second and a half.
Umpire Brian O'Nora told Parmelee between innings that he was safe at second base when he slid hard into the bag on the front end of a hit-and-run attempt. Trouble is, Parmelee slid so hard, he popped up to his feet -- and picked his foot up off the bag. Second baseman Chris Getz was still tagging Parmelee on his helmet when the overslide happened, and O'Nora signaled the inning's first out.
"It was just my momentum taking me off the bag. I had a feeling it was going to be a close play, so I tried to slide as late as possible, trying not to lose some speed," said Parmelee, who stole 20 bases in the minor leagues but hadn't even tried to steal one in the majors until victimizing Brayan Villarreal last Thursday. "I just came off it a little bit, and he held the tag on me."
Brian Dozier swung at the pitch to protect him, but the ball was in the dirt, and he couldn't make contact. And catcher Salvador Perez got the ball away in a hurry.
"He made the throw off his knees -- that's pretty incredible," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But Parm was safe."
At least for a second. His knee dug in so hard on the slide, Parmelee said, he ripped a hole in his pants.
That might be a good metaphor for the Twins' night. They had some things go right -- but in the end, it didn't matter.
