Three strikes, and you're out. At least, that's the case most of the time in baseball. Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, however, got a bonus strike in one of his at-bats against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
In the bottom of the third inning, Álvarez was facing Red Sox starter Rich Hill, and he struck out on four pitches. Álvarez took a strike to make it a 1-1 count, fouled off the next pitch and then looked at strike three.
The issue was that no one in attendance at Minute Maid Park noticed that Álvarez had struck out (check out the video here). None of the Red Sox players or coaches protested when Álvarez remained in the batter's box, the other umpires failed to correct the error, and even the announcers carried on without realizing what happened.
Here's statistical proof of the blunder, courtesy of MLB.com's Gameday.
MLB.comThe good news for the Red Sox is that the mistake didn't cost them. On the pitch following his would-be strikeout, Álvarez dribbled a routine ground ball to first base for an out.
If there is one player who doesn't need any extra help at the plate, it's Álvarez. Entering Wednesday's game, he was hitting .307 with 30 home runs and 71 RBI while leading the MLB in on-base percentage (.413) and OPS (1.076).
