The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 on Tuesday night at PNC Park. Unfortunately for the Tigers, there was a real Sliding Doors moment in the 4th inning as a sacrifice fly turned into an inning-ending 9-2 double-play when a baserunner forgot to touch the plate.
With the Tigers down 3-0 in the top of the 4th, Detroit outfielder Wenceel Perez led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to third on a single by Spencer Torkelson. With one out, Zach McKinstry hit a fly ball to right field that was caught cleanly by Alexander Canario. That's when Perez tagged up, but forgot his assignment on his way home.
Perez beat the throw to the plate, but as he slid in head first he apparently had his eyes closed and neglected to reach out and touch home. Eventually, Pirates catcher Henry Davis applied the tag as Perez completely slid past home without ever sticking out any body part to make any contact with the plate whatsoever.
WE'LL TAKE THAT
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) July 22, 2025
Perez misses home. Don Kelly challenged. 9-2 double play to end the inning instead of a 3-1 ballgame. pic.twitter.com/M11oynmxwN
Instead of scoring a run and still having a runner in scoring position, the inning ended without any runs. The Pirates added two more runs in the bottom half of the inning and the Tigers were never able to catch up.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tigers Outfielder Forgets to Tag Home Plate While Sliding Home.
