In a nailbiter extra innings showdown Monday night, it looked like the Minnesota Twins would continue pushing the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After already trading shot for shot in an 8-8 barnburner, the Twins were interested in extending this matchup by intentionally walking Max Muncy. Such a gambit loaded the bases but ultimately put Minnesota in a potential position to send this battle to the 13th inning with two outs.
Unfortunately, Minnesota pitcher Jorge Lopez couldn’t fulfill the second half of his bargain on the very next batter. Rather than get a harmless ball into play, he accidentally walked Trayce Thompson, sending the automatic game-winning 9-8 run by Chris Taylor over the plate.
Truly, it was the worst of outcomes after intentionally walking someone.
The Twins intentionally walked Max Muncy to load the bases and proceeded to walk Trayce Thompson to lose the game pic.twitter.com/KnhojeCEym
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 16, 2023
Look. An intentional walk to try and get the bases loaded is risky in itself. If you’re going to do it, my advice would be not to walk the next batter. For a May regular season game, this is a blunder Lopez and the Twins won’t live down.
