Wade LeBlanc had a rough outing in Baltimore, and it wasn’t just the Marlins lineup giving him trouble. With the game tied 4-4, LeBlanc opened the inning obsessed with keeping runners close. He threw a series of pickoffs, more interested in holding runners than throwing pitches. It backfired quickly. A fly to right moved the runner to third, then a grounder knocked in a run and created chaos. While backing up a throw, LeBlanc ran into the Marlins’ third base coach, accidentally flooring him before apologizing and backing off with an awkward pat.
Things spiraled after that. LeBlanc continued with pickoff attempts, spinning and stalling, trying to catch the runner leaning. He gave a playful thumbs-up to his infielder before attempting a flashy pick, but the runner was safe by a mile. Instead of resetting, LeBlanc leaned harder into the antics, doing his best Johnny Cueto impression with wild delays and twisty windups. The batter took advantage of the distraction and knocked in two more runs. Then came an obvious balk, easy for anyone to call. Manager Brandon Hyde had seen enough. He came out, told LeBlanc it was over, and pulled him before it got worse. LeBlanc threw more pickoffs than pitches, and probably won’t want to relive that inning anytime soon.