White Sox reliever Matt Albers hit a double and celebrated like he was the king of the world
White Sox reliever Matt Albers entered Wednesday's game against the Mets in the bottom of the 12th inning and did his job -- holding the opposition scoreless. Most would assume that his work was done or that he might just continue his duty on the mound again in the bottom of the 13th.
But, no. Matt Albers had more to prove.
The 33-year-old, whose last base hit came back in 2007 as a member of the Astros, stepped up to the plate in the top of the 13th and sent a ball flying into the gap:
The bench was ecstatic:
Albers was also quite satisfied:
He would later score the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly (while still feeling very pumped), and close out the game in the bottom half of the inning for the win and a 2-1 victory.
According to Elias Sports, the last American League relief pitcher to score a game-winning run and get the win was Danys Baez for the Orioles on May 22, 2009. After the game, the legend himself talked to MLB.com's Scott Merkin about his big day:
"A lot of guys were laughing, saying how funny that was. They couldn't believe I did that. That's fine," Albers said. "You battle it out that long, you want to win those extra-inning games."
And about that "slide" into second base ...
"I was like, 'Sorry, man, I don't know how to slide,'" said a smiling Albers. "It was just a mess, but I made it."
You sure did, Matt.