On Friday night, the Red Sox returned to Fenway Park in their first game since the All-Star break. After losing 10 of their last 14 games to the Rays and Yankees, Boston had a chance to redeem themselves against another AL East Rival — the Blue Jays (-1.5). With current “ace” Nathan Eovaldi on the mound, they should’ve been in an excellent position for redemption.
Alas, the best-laid Red Sox plans often go awry.
Before Boston could blink, the Blue Jays took three runs off Eovaldi in the first two innings. Then, all chaos broke loose.
In the third inning, with Toronto up 6-love, Raimel Tapia hit a routine pop-up to centerfield. No one told Jarren Duran, who apparently never saw the ball as it flew over his head. Then, he barely made an effort to run after it.
The result? A stunning inside-the-park grand slam:
Completely fun and normal GRAND SLAM 🙌 pic.twitter.com/cAvX8pZiWN
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 23, 2022
Holy. Cow.
First, congratulations to Tapia, who now has only the second inside-the-park grand slam in Blue Jays history. Coincidentally, the first one also happened at Fenway Park!
Raimel Tapia's inside-the-park grand slam is the 2nd in Blue Jays history, joining:
June 2, 1989 Junior Felix ALSO at Fenway Park
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 23, 2022
Second, Tapia’s “slam” is also the rare home run unicorn. It would’ve only happened at Fenway Park (or anywhere else the centerfield royally screwed up):
Raimel Tapia vs Austin Davis#NextLevel
🦄 IT'S A UNICORN 🦄
Home Run 💣
Exit velo: 97 mph
Launch angle: 35 deg
Proj. distance: 384 ftThis would have been a home run at Fenway Park and nowhere else.
TOR (10) @ BOS (0)
🔺 3rd pic.twitter.com/yP5oy61KtI— Would it dong? (@would_it_dong) July 23, 2022
By the way, the play even helped cash the consensus over (9):
Raimel Tapia with an inside-the-park GRAND SLAM 😳
Crazy way to cash the over (9) ✅pic.twitter.com/24jpJSE7Zl
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) July 23, 2022
All in all, Tapia’s hustle and Duran’s nonexistent hustle made for one of the more unique plays you’ll see this entire baseball season.
