The play got sloppy in a hurry. With the score at 6-3, a three-run bomb had just made things interesting. Then came a routine grounder to first, but Eric Hosmer’s throw to the pitcher covering first base missed badly. Instead of an easy out, the ball nearly rolled into the dugout. Catcher Austin Hedges did everything he could to stop it, diving and getting just enough glove on it to keep it in play. He made the save, but the runner still advanced. A slow-motion look showed Hedges’ glove flying high as he batted the ball away right before it could disappear through the opening.
In the dugout, a teammate was watching his own home run replay when the chaos caught his eye. His smile quickly turned to a wince. Hedges, still fired up after the hustle play, got bumped during the aftermath and wasn’t thrilled. Hosmer checked in with him and said something that didn’t land well. Hedges walked off, clearly frustrated, muttering that the whole thing didn’t go how he wanted and leaving the impression that he felt embarrassed by how it unfolded. The mood shifted fast, from momentum with the homer to confusion in the field and tension in the dugout.