(670 The Score) Cubs shortstop Javier “El Mago” Baez is known for his magic on the baseball diamond, but he took it to an entirely new level Thursday.
In one of the wildest plays you’ll ever seen, Baez tricked the Pirates on what should’ve been a routine inning-ending groundout with two outs by turning around and running back toward home plate when Pittsburgh first baseman Will Craig went to tag him after the throw was slightly off line. Craig got increasingly confused as he pursued Baez back toward home plate and Cubs catcher Willson Contreras kept running from second base to home. Craig decided to toss the ball home to prevent Contreras from scoring, but he was too late, and that allowed Baez to scamper off to first. Check it out below.
The fact that there were two outs made the play even more unbelievable and astonishing -- as well as frustrating from the Pirates' perspective. All the Pirates had to do was step on first base at any point for the forceout, and that would've rendered Contreras' dash to home plate meaningless.
After the game, Baez explained his thinking on the play.
“My first thought was to go head-first pretty much out of the baseline (to avoid the tag),” Baez said. “But the throw got there so early because it was a groundball to third. I just ran back and was trying to make Willy score given that it was two outs. At the same time, I was keeping him (Craig) close to me so he could chase me. I did plan it right when it happened. I never had that in my plans (ahead of time). When it happened, I think my plan ended when I called safe. I remembered that I was still safe and I had to go back to first. But I was just very tired.”
And was it his instincts that just took over?
"Let's say I improvise," Baez said. "I don't know. At the moment, I can react pretty fast to things like contact and stuff like that. But I'm pretty good at tagging and not letting people tag me."
Baez was ruled to have reached on a fielder’s choice and to have taken second base on a throwing error. The Cubs took a 2-0 lead on the play and tacked on another run in the inning, which made Baez's quick thinking the difference in their eventual 5-3 victory.
“You never stop learning different things with baseball,” Baez said. “It was a crazy play.”