Yankees: Rougned Odor gets three-run home run stolen after calling timeout in wild sequence
![NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 4: Rougned Odor #12 of the New York Yankeess at bat against the Baltimore Orioles during the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium on August 4, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2021-2F08-2F1333428869-850x560-07314ff60f549bd25d6a35341d65627d.jpg)
The New York Yankees clobbered Minnesota in the first two games of their four-game set, and they just clinched a series win with a 7-1 win on Saturday.
Not only did Gerrit Cole shove in his second start since returning from the COVID list, but he made Josh Donaldson look like a cry baby on multiple occasions.
To cap yet another brilliant performance from the Yankees, hometown hero Andrew Velazquez leadoff the eighth inning with his first career home run!
In other words, it was mostly a stress-free afternoon for New York. However, a sequence of utter insanity unfolded just minutes before Velazquez’s homer.
With runners on first and third in the bottom of the seventh, Rougned Odor uncorked a three-run bomb over the right center field fence.
The only problem? Odor called timeout right before the pitch was thrown and home plate umpire Angel Hernandez unfortunately granted his request.
Rougned Odor calls timeout then hits a home run that doesn't count. Then on the next pitch Angel Hernandez calls him out on strikes on a tough call pic.twitter.com/FKtLIHyhhf
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 21, 2021
Rougned Odor was deprived of a three-run HR in a wild sequence.
Has…has anyone ever seen that before? We certainly haven’t.
Leave it to Hernandez to steal headlines in a blowout win. While we understand why he granted Odor timeout, the veteran umpire could’ve just as easily let it slide. In fact, most umpires wouldn’t have paused play in that situation.
As he’s prone to do, however, Hernandez rubbed salt in the wound by punching Odor out on a highly questionable strike three call on the very next pitch. Not only was the pitch high, but looked outside the zone from our vantage point.
In fairness to Hernandez, we shouldn’t come down too hard on him. Remember on Thursday when a young fan got drilled in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s home run? The kid was thankfully able to laugh it off, but that didn’t stop Hernandez from gifting him a souvenir ball in between innings.
Tonight Angel Hernandez was a hero
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) August 20, 2021
Gave a ball to the kid that got drilled by Giancarlo’s bullet homer pic.twitter.com/0UN8fcdWIl
You can understand why we’re letting Hernandez off easy here, but that doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t have to call time. Could you imagine if those runs were meaningful? Actually, let’s not even think about that.
Soak this one in, Yankees fans, because it might be a while before we see anything like this happen again.