Despite a valiant attempt, Rougned Odor had one of the wildest throws you'll see during a double play
When the ground ball double-play is pulled off, it's one of the most subtly beautiful moments on the field as multiple players come together to create a piece of baseball artwork. But when it doesn't work, like in the Astros-Rangers game on Friday night, things get messy in a hurry.
With Jose Altuve on first base with one out in the sixth inning, Alex Bregman hit a ground ball up the middle that Elvis Andrus fielded. He made a nifty flip to Rougned Odor covering second ... except -- oh no -- the toss was too weak. Odor tried to keep his foot on the bag, but was pulled off (which the umpires noticed after review). The extra stretch changed the entire mechanics of the double play. With his back to the infield, Odor needed a full 360-degree spin to make the throw.
He didn't quite get there. Remember your Little League coach telling you that your throw will go where your front shoulder is facing? Yeah ... for Odor, that was toward the dugout. This is one of the wildest throws you'll see:
Can't fault the effort. And after Marwin Gonzalez was walked to load the bases, Chris Martin and Alex Claudio combined to strike out the last two batters to strand the runners. No harm, no foul -- though Rangers manager Jeff Banister wasn't a fan.
"Not the smartest play in the world right there," Banister said. "We'll work on that."