It doesn’t happen very often, but pitchers must be prepared for a line drive to come screaming back at them.
Jason Vargas, who started Monday night’s outing for the Kansas City Royals, took a hard-hit ball from Minnesota Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks where the sun doesn’t shine.
Although Vargas recovered to record an out, it certainly looked like a painful one, to say the least.
The 32-year-old retired the next batter and escaped the inning unscathed on the scoreboard, yet Matthew DeFranks of Fox Sports Kansas City notes Vargas was upset he didn’t turn the double play.
However, Royals manager Ned Yost had a different idea, which led to this, per DeFranks:
“I don’t blame you for not,” Yost told Vargas. “You probably looked down and saw three balls on the ground and didn’t know which one to pick up.”
Chalk one up in the win column for Yost.
Kansas City eventually earned a 3-1 victory thanks to six scoreless innings from Vargas, who improved to 5-2 on the season.
Photo: USA Today Sports