Chicago White Sox shortstop Paul DeJong was the embarrassing final out in Friday night's 2-1 loss in Detroit as he was doubled off first base after forgetting the number of outs.
It happened in the top of the ninth with one out after DeJong was hit by a pitch to reach first base as the tying run for the White Sox. On the 1-2 pitch, pinch hitter Andrew Benintendi hit a fly ball to center field for the second out. That should have given the White Sox at least one more at-bat, but unfortunately DeJong had rounded second base on the fly ball thinking there were only two outs.
With DeJong having to tag second before coming back to first, there was plenty of time for the Tigers to complete the double play. After catching the fly ball, center fielder Matt Vierling threw the ball to shortstop Ryan Kriedler, who turned and threw to first baseman Mark Canha to complete the double play.
Game ends because the runner thought there were two outs pic.twitter.com/LC0wermFAl
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 22, 2024
We see MLB players losing track of outs way more than we would expect, although this is the first time we have seen it result in the end of the game. You would think that professional baseball players would avoid careless mistakes like this. It certainly explains why the White Sox are by far the worst team in baseball with a record of 20-57.