The 3 plays in sports everybody will be talking about today
Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about on Thursday.
Iceland won a Euros game and it is everything that is great about sports. Iceland secured a spot in the knockout stage of Euros 2016 with a goal in the fourth minute of extra time, on what turned out to be the final kick of the match. That's great, but what makes it even better is the call from Icelandic soccer announcer Gudmundur Benediktsson, a former player. It's amazing (video and translation is via ESPN):
The Dodgers won on a walk-off Little League home run. In a potential National League playoffs preview, the Dodgers trailed the Nationals by one in the ninth inning with a runner on first base. Yasiel Puig hit a ground ball single up the middle that looked like it put the tying run into scoring position, except center fielder Michael Taylor, who also struck out five times in the game, misplayed the ball and it rolled all the way to the wall. Puig was off to the races, even running through a stop sign at third base in the most Puigian moment ever, and scored the game-winning run.
Adrian Gonzalez did what? In the fifth inning of a 2-2 game, Chase Utley and Adrian Gonzalez chased a foul ball down the right-field line. When Utley attempted a behind-the-back grab, only to deflect the ball, Gonzo went into full Pete Rose mode, grabbing the deflection out of mid-air. You really need to see the replay to understand how in the world this happened.
Bad strike-call bonus. You know a strike call is bad when even the pitcher is shocked it was called. Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer pitched a complete-game 3-hitter against the Rays, striking out 10 and giving up just 1 run. But he also had a little help. On a 1-2 pitch in the fourth inning, Bauer threw a curveball that appeared to miss high. Even Bauer spun around in apparent disgust at the pitch. However, as he was facing away, he heard the pitch called a strike for a strikeout. The look of surprise on his face says it all.