Atlanta Braves slugger Adam Duvall has hit a lot of home runs this year. He's hit ones with distances of 458 feet, 477 feet and even a whopping 483 feet, which is good for the fourth longest of the 2021 season by any player (so far). He's had less monstrous ones that were still no-doubters, including a 417-foot blast off of Clayton Kershaw when he was on the Marlins. He's also had ones that just squeaked out of the park, including a 371-footer off of Zach Wheeler at Philadelphia's hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park.
So hitting home runs of all shapes and sizes is nothing new to Duvall, and a 412-foot bomb ordinarily wouldn't be anything to write home (or on the internet) about. But when a 412-foot home run turns into a 412-foot single, it's hard not to acknowledge the weirdness of such a play.
It was a home run, to be fair. It cleared the fence and should have resulted in three more runs batted in for Duvall, who leads the National League in that category. But... well, just watch.
So what happened? Because it looked like centerfielder Jake McCarthy may have made a spectacular grab and robbed Duvall of a big fly, baserunner Austin Riley started to head back toward first base at the same time as Duvall was rounding first base. And if you're a baseball savant — or even a more casual fan of the game — you'll know that this isn't allowed, regardless of whether or not the ball is on the field or over the fence.
Listen to sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest MLB team gear
"As a hitter or runner, you have to be aware of that," manager Brian Snitker said (via MLB.com's Mark Bowman). "When you have a runner in front of you, you can’t [pass] him. Probably, Austin got a little carried away coming back. That’s just part of baserunning and you have to be aware of that."
So the home run turned into a single, and that turned into Duvall getting out because he passed a baserunner on his way to second. As Bowman notes, Duvall had another long single — a 374-foot rocket off the left-field wall — that he attempted to stretch into a double without luck.
Two blasts off the bat with home run-type of pop. Two singles. And two somewhat uncommon outs as a result. A weird day for Duvall, for sure, but a good one overall and a performance that helped lead the Braves to a 9-2 victory.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram