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The 5 Best MLB Moments from Tuesday

Bringing you all the highlights between the highlights.

Wynn McDonald
Best MLB Moments 5/12/2021

Every day in the magical adult playground world that is Major League Baseball, we get plenty of fun moments that are worth revisiting. That’s why this series exists, and at least for me, it’s a blast to write. Tuesday was no exception, as we got a wild walk-off, another Shohei Ohtani double feature, and much, much more.

But before we get to all that, we’re making a pit stop in Triple-A. That’s where a certain professional baseballer named Drew Robinson did something last night that he probably never expected to do again: hit a home run in a professional baseball game.

If you haven’t read up about Robinson’s story (or need a refresher), I highly recommend reading Jeff Passan’s piece from February. It puts a lot of things in perspective and makes last night’s accomplishment all the more impressive. Keep crushing, Drew.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled moments…

That’s Sho Biz, Baby

Since he debuted in 2018, we’ve truly seen it all from Shohei Ohtani: elite pitching, elite power, elite speed, elite clubhouse funny guy potential, you name it. The one thing he still has to prove is whether he can do all of it — or even some of it — at the same time, for a long time.

So far in 2021, it looks like he’s chasing that mark down, too. He made his third appearance of the season (and his career), appearing as both a pitcher and hitter on Tuesday, and it may have been his best yet.

Sho-Time doled out 10 Ks in a full seven innings this time, his longest outing on the mound since May of 2018. He allowed just one run and did all the usual absurdly unfair things we’ve come to expect from his repertoire:

He also went 1-4 at the plate with a base hit, which was enough to convince Joe Maddon to leave him in the game in right field after his final pitch. It marked the second time in Ohtani’s career he’s moved from the mound to the outfield grass, and the first time in a nine-inning game. How versatile!

In hindsight, he might have been better off heading back to the clubhouse. At least then he wouldn’t have had to watch the Angels’ bullpen (Aaron Slegers and Alex Claudio) blow the game open in the eighth, setting the Astros up for a 5-1 win. No matter how hard he tries, the guy can’t play every position at once.

Gymnastics is a Sport, too

From one Angel in the Outfield to a few more, we have to talk about the outrageous flip pulled by Mike Trout after this near-collision that resulted in a catch by Taylor Ward:

From Ward’s perspective, the only thing I can compare this to is if you were setting up a house of cards on a train track, then look down and see the train coming just as you’re placing the final touch. But then just as you set the final card up, the train spins out of the way, does a backflip, lands on its wheels and keeps on chuggin’. Nothing you can do but applaud and be thankful you’re still alive.

Catching Heat

After years of hurling high-velocity projectiles and into the mitts of those poor Cleveland backstops, Shane Bieber got to feel the catcher’s perspective on this smoking comebacker — and came out smelling like roses.

Actually it was significantly harder, since the ball was clocked at 111 miles per hour off Joc Pederson’s bat. According to Sarah Langs, it was the hardest-hit liner caught by a pitcher since Statcast started measuring them in 2015. Something tells me that hand’s gonna hurt in the morning.

Bieber finished the game allowing two runs in 6.2 innings vs. the Cubs with a paltry eight strikeouts. Single digits? Get this bum outta here!

The Seager Saga Continues

Every time the Mariners play the Dodgers, the Seager Show comes front and center. At least, that’s been the case since last August, when brothers Corey and Kyle faced off for the first time in the bigs and both went deep. They faced off for the second time in April, and Corey hit a home run while Kyle went 0-8 in two games.

So it’s only natural that this week, as the bell rang for round three in Chavez Ravine, Kyle Seager had a score to prove.

This two-run shot evened the head-to-head homer count at two apiece for the Seager siblings, and it gave the M’s a huge 3-0 lead against Walker Buehler. However, Corey responded with an RBI single in the 7th inning that cut that lead to one and set the stage for this awesome (albeit non-Seager related) moment:

No homer for lil bro, but he did help secure a 6-4 Dodgers victory. What will they have in store next? Tune in today and find out.

A New Kind of Walk-Off Specialist

Patrick Mazeika has played in four Major League games. He has three Major League RBIs in four Major League at-bats. Two of those at-bats have resulted in Major League walk-offs, but none of them have resulted in Major League hits. Got all that? Okay, now consider that he looks like this:

Storybook stuff, truly. Here’s last night’s heroic tapper, which was the rookie’s second walk-off FC in the past week:

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Mazeika is the first MLB player in the last 100 years to record two walk-off “hits” before his first real hit in the show. And at this rate, it may never come. They can just keep deploying him off the bench in high-leverage situations and rest assured that it will, like, work out. Why has no one else thought of this strategy??

Leave it to the Mets, I guess. Happy Wednesday everyone.

Wynn McDonald

Born a Kentuckian, much like Dan Uggla. Braves fan by choice, unlike Dan Uggla. I enjoy long walks on the Brandon Beachy. @twynstagram

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