SEATTLE — In what may be one of baseball’s strangest defensive plays, Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert’s uniform made an unexpected catch during Wednesday’s game against the Oakland Athletics.
During the opening inning with a runner positioned at third base, Oakland’s Carlos Cortes smashed a hard-hit ball directly toward the right-handed pitcher. The baseball mysteriously became trapped inside Gilbert’s jersey fabric.
Gilbert immediately clutched his midsection and spun around searching for the baseball while Cortes sprinted toward first base, eventually discovering the ball had somehow been snared by his own clothing.
Official scorers awarded Cortes a base hit since the play was ruled dead upon contact, though Nick Kurtz stayed put at third base. Shea Langeliers moved up to second base during the unusual sequence.
Broadcast measurements showed the screaming line drive traveling at 107.8 miles per hour.
Mariners head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson conducted a quick medical evaluation of Gilbert, who was cleared to continue playing and completed the inning. The pitcher ultimately surrendered two earned runs during the frame on Tyler Soderstrom’s sacrifice fly and Jeff McNeil’s run-scoring single.
Gilbert took the mound again for the following inning without further incident.
