I suppose an alternative headline could be something like, “The Atlanta Braves Just Walked Into One of the Most Embarrassing Pick-Offs You’ll See.” Choose whichever one is in your heart.
Here’s the play:
So you had a very late check swing call for the strike on a 3-1 count, so I guess that’s the explanation for why Adam Duvall was wandering off of first base. But Duvall is a long-time veteran, so why on earth would he assume there was a walk when there was clearly at least a borderline check swing? And furthermore, he had PLENTY of time to get back to first base! It’s not like Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle was throwing right away. His teammates had to scream at him to throw to first base to get the out.
The play officially goes down in the scorebook as a “pick-off” at first base by Mahle. Which, well, it is. But certainly not what you’d expect to see when you find out a pitcher picked off a guy at first base.
Truly a bizarre moment, and not exactly a pick-off play you could duplicate any time soon even if you wanted.