Yesterday, Ryan Braun … er Jonathan Lucroy … or, uhm manager Craig Counsel … ugh: SOMEONE on the Brewers made a mistake, when Ryan Braun stepped up to the plate in the top of the first inning.
Check out the confusion and ensuing scoring oddity, below:
Although Braun actually hit a single up the middle, it was ultimately scored as a ground out to the catcher for Jonathan Lucroy, because it was Lucroy who was supposed to be batting there, not Braun. It was a screw up with the lineup card.
Interestingly, if Braun made an out, there, Nationals Manager Dusty Baker would not have been forced to point out the lineup discrepancy, just yet, if he didn’t want to. Instead, he could have waited until later in the game – say, a ninth inning rally – to point it out and make the correction (if they continued hitting out of order).
Even though that would have been excellent drama, that’s not what ultimately happened, and we’re left with nothing more than a groundout that never happened. Luckily, Lucroy wasn’t working on some sort of hitting streak, or batting title. Even still, I think Braun owes Lucroy a beer, or a shot, or a brat, or cheese curd or something Wisconsin-y, right?