Vlad Jr. connects twice -- on same pitch
Rare hit off double-tap leads to winning run against Phillies
If you blinked twice, you may have missed both times Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit the ball with one swing on Thursday afternoon in the Blue Jays' 3-2 win over the Phillies.
With Toronto tied at 2 with Philly in Game 1 of a doubleheader, Guerrero stepped to the plate with one out and one on in the bottom of the seventh.
Phils reliever Deolis Guerra delivered a first-pitch fastball that jammed the young slugger, but Guerrero fought off the pitch and was able to dump the offering into left for a single. But that wasn't the whole story: Guerrero actually struck the ball twice on his swing, an occurrence that is as visually pleasing as it is rare.
Even better for the Blue Jays, Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez, who was on first when Guerrero came to the plate, went to third on the play and came home on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s walk-off single.
Apparently, crazy hits run in the Guerrero family. Vlad Sr., of course, famously once got a hit off a pitch that bounced in front of the plate. Vlad Jr. followed in his dad's footsteps with a different but equally weird type of hit.
A twice-hit ball is a rarity in MLB -- but it has happened.
Maybe the most important multihit hit in baseball history was Hunter Pence's bases-clearing double in Game 7 of the 2012 National League Championship Series, which broke open the Giants' win over the Cardinals in San Francisco. The ball hitting Pence's bat thrice as it shattered clearly confused St. Louis shortstop Pete Kozma as the ball got through to center field. The Giants went on to win the World Series.
Here are other known instances of a batter getting a hit by hitting the ball twice with one swing:
? Troy Tulowitzki did it with the Rockies in 2011, hitting a line drive down the third-base line against the Yankees.
? Five years later, Brandon Phillips did it in the seventh inning of a blowout loss to the Indians, connecting on a ball that skipped past the shortstop.
? Andrew Benintendi (Red Sox), Aug. 15, 2018 -- a lefty-lefty squibber through the middle off Aaron Loup at Citizens Bank Park.
? Manny Pi?a (Brewers), Aug. 1, 2018 -- a bloop line-drive single to left off JT Chargois at Dodger Stadium, just over shortstop Chris Taylor's head.
? Chris Carter (Brewers), June 15, 2016 -- a ground-ball single up the middle off Johnny Cueto at AT&T Park, just past a diving Brandon Crawford.