The Tigers have shown tentative signs of improvement this year, "jumping" out to a 16–18 start and giving fans in the Motor City reason to cheer.
However, the bad juju of Detroit's 96-loss 2022 campaign seems like it hasn't been extinguished entirely.
With one out in the second inning of the Tigers' game against the Guardians on Monday evening, Detroit left fielder Akil Baddoo took off from first base. Cleveland catcher Mike Zunino snared pitcher Tanner Bibee's high heater and tried to nail him at second.
Zunino nailed Baddoo, all right—in quite literal fashion. The catcher's throw hit Baddoo squarely in the groin and bounced into Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez's glove.
Giménez then added insult to injury by tagging Baddoo out, completing a mind-bending bang-bang play.
We don't know what to say. Just watch. pic.twitter.com/rOUxKpIA4F
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 8, 2023
"That is unbelievable," Cleveland play-by-play announcer Matt Underwood marveled. "Are you kidding me?"
Shaking off the mishap, the Tigers rode a well-rounded offensive performance to a 6–2 win that put them in second place in the AL Central.
