Mitch Haniger used an 80-grade swim slide and reach to avoid being tagged out at the plate
By
Adrian Garro
Mitch Haniger knew he had to run. With Robinson Canó at the plate with two outs in the fifth inning of the Mariners' 9-0 win over the Astros on Wednesday at Minute Maid Park, the outfielder was running on contact. When Cano laced a Dallas Keuchel pitch into the gap in left-center, Haniger was off. Thanks to a strong relay from the Astros, he had to try extra hard to score and avoid being tagged out on a strong throw home from Marwin Gonzalez. The throw beat him to the plate, but Haniger had the upper hand -- literally -- by pulling his lead hand back and executing one of the finest swim slides we've seen this season.
His dexterous display led Haniger to slide past the plate without actually touching it, but that post-slide scamper got him under the second tag attempt by catcher Martín Maldonado. Just another highlight for Haniger in a season full of them. Maldonado's now been on both sides of this type of play this season, as he did this earlier in the summer while with the Rangers:
