Denzel Clarke had to be forcibly restrained by his MiLB coaches and teammates after an electric walk-off home run was overturned because he missed third base. Jubilation for the San Antonio Missions quickly devolved into heartbreak and chaos.
The entire sequence of events could not be more entertaining!
San Antonio is the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. It was down 4-2 to the Midland RockHounds with two runners on and two outs in the bottom on the ninth inning. Cooper Bowman stepped into the box as the winning run and took the first pitch he saw deep for the game-winner.
The party was on as soon as the ball crossed the fence in left field and the Missions met their hero at home plate with a celebratory cooler bath. They were lit.
However, the home run did not stand for long. As the celebration proceeded to unfold, Midland’s manager asked the umpires to review the play. Clarke didn’t touch third base.
He was ruled out.
Neither his nor Bowman’s runs counted. The result was reversed in favor of the RockHounds.
Clarke was furious with the call and ran out over to the head umpire to plead his case. Their conversation was largely one-sided. It quickly got out of hand.
Multiple coaches and teammates tried to keep Clarke at bay. They had to physically hold him back while he charged at the umpiring crew in rage. Although his antics never escalated to the point of destructive violence, they did result in a well-deserved ejection!
San Antonio thought that it won the MiLB game on Bowman’s walk-off dinger. Instead, the Missions lost by one because Clarke failed to touch third base, which negated both his and Bowman’s runs. He was entirely at fault for the Minor League Baseball heartbreak.