Pittsburgh Pirates closer Aroldis Chapman helped close the door on the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday, earning a hold after throwing a scoreless eighth inning during the 1–0 win at PNC Park.
At one point, however, Chapman seemed to think that he’d served up a lead-changing three-run home run to Teoscar Hernández. After the Dodgers outfielder lifted a ball to deep center field, Chapman could be seen spiking his glove in frustration, clearly under the impression that the ball was going to leave the park.
Instead, center fielder Jack Suwinski made a routine catch just shy of the warning track for the second out of the inning. Chapman then struck out Andy Pages to end the inning, but his rage-induced antics on the mound didn’t go unnoticed by some of his teammates.
Aroldis Chapman thought it was GONE 😭
(h/t @TalkinBaseball_)pic.twitter.com/K8DIxj0LIA
Perhaps a slight overreaction from the hard-throwing southpaw, who clearly thought he’d surrendered his fifth home run of the season and blown the lead in the eighth inning.
Andrew McCutchen couldn’t help but mock Chapman over the ordeal, and he could be seen in the home dugout mimicking the spike with his own mitt while laughing with his teammate.
McCutchen mocking Chapman LMAO pic.twitter.com/TlefkvBCyb
Ultimately, no harm was done from the bat of Hernández on that occasion, though Chapman’s teammates may not let him forget about his reaction anytime soon.
KARL RASMUSSEN
