Tim Beckham could only salute Jake Cave after being robbed of a first-pitch homer on Friday
The slumping Orioles had hoped to get off on the right foot during their game on Friday night against the Twins. Leadoff hitter
Unfortunately for the O's, the flaw in their strategy was that Beckham hit it right to the man who had just stolen an extra-base hit from
Sure enough, Cave brought this drive back, too, robbing Beckham of his first homer since March 31.
He had been raring to go. "You've got to be ready, because that kind of stuff happens," Cave said to MLB.com's Jarrid Denney about his preparation. "I'm ready out there, from first pitch to last pitch. You never know what's going to happen."
So Cave was pretty pumped up as he fired the ball back in:
Lynn was quite relieved that Cave kept the Twins from immediately trailing, 1-0. "One pitch, one out. That's a heck of a catch," he said. "I definitely didn't want to start the game by giving up a solo home run. One heck of a play and I was able to get into a rhythm after that."
After Cave's robbery, Lynn settled in and got the win for six innings of one-run ball. The Twins prevailed, 6-2.
As for Beckham? He had to offer some kudos:
Cave didn't see Beckham's salute until watching video after the game, but he appreciated the compliment. "That's pretty cool for him to do that," said Cave. "I'm sure he's made a lot of great plays against guys in his career, so he knows what it feels like to do something like that."
The Allegory of Jake Cave clearly needs more study -- his pursuit of fly balls is relentless.
