Blake Snell had a tough second inning in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
He allowed four runs, one of which came on a hit that’s just a hit on paper. On a fly ball off Matt Vierling’s bat to right field with runners on second and third, Juan Soto fumbled in the sun at the last second and fell harmlessly behind him.
Fortunately for the Padres, only one run was scored due to the routine nature of the fly ball, but he kept only one run up on the scoreboard. Two more runs would go into the inning before Snell came out.
Soto has made mistakes in the outfield with the Padres before, though it was more of an error in judgment in August than it was in October, when the San Diego sun played havoc with his ability to play the ball correctly.
Oh no Juan Soto pic.twitter.com/X2JlpAqdci
— Talking about baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 19, 2022
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While it’s conceivable that the early afternoon San Diego sun can be extremely difficult to play, people were divided in their reaction to the blunder.
At first I was thinking, you’d think Soto had never played in this ballpark before, but THEN I realized, at this time of year, at this point in the GAME, with the angle of the sun the way it is, it probably IS new to him? But THEN I come back to the fact: he’s a major leaguer, for crying out loud.
— Jamie Apody (@JamieApody) October 19, 2022
The sun looking at Juan Soto: pic.twitter.com/NZzEHomyZz
— Phils Nation (@PHLPhilNation) October 19, 2022
Boos a couple of times at Petco Park in the second inning.
Juan Soto made a shooting error and then lost a ball in the “high” sky/sun.
Jurickson Profar stopped the ball that he looked about to catch on a shallow LF.
It’s 3-0. The Phillies have five hits. The hardest was the 95.7 mph fly ball.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) October 19, 2022
Soto, however, who had an unfavorable Game 1 in this series at the plate, more than made up for it later. With runners on the corners in the fifth and one out on an 0-2 count, he sinkered Aaron Nola down the line at 105.7 mph for a double to score the tying run. Talk about a change of course.
JUAN SOTO TIES THE GAME 🔥
What a success 🤯
📹 @MLBONFOX pic.twitter.com/3sp2L9dEgT
— MLB Sports News (@sn_mlb) October 19, 2022
The Padres took the lead in a rush down the inning, thanks in large part to Soto’s contribution. The fifth gave up five runs for the Padres, who came out on top 7-4 in front of an absolutely rowdy San Diego crowd.
Source: news.google.com