The New York Yankees saw an early 1-0 lead instantly disappear after a disappointing tag attempt (or lack thereof) from starting catcher Gary Sanchez.
At the bottom of the first inning against the New York Mets on Friday, the Yankees seemed set to maintain their lead when Javier Baez's two-out hit was easily recovered by Joey Gallo. The left fielder then quickly threw the ball to Sanchez, who received the ball with time to spare before the running Jonathan Villar make it to the plate.
In a rather shocking turn of events, Sanchez missed the tag on Villar. While the umpire initially ruled out Villar, the call was overturned after the replay showed Sanchez not moving his gloves at all as the Mets' second baseman extended his leg to the home plate,
Here's how the head-scratching move play went down, to the surprise of all Yankees fans:
Gary Sanchez misses the tag on Jonathan Villar and the Mets tie this game at 1-1 pic.twitter.com/YSDPyIaW8K
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 10, 2021
Sure enough, Yankees fans and the media watching the botched play couldn't believe what they just witnessed. Given that the team is on a six-game losing streak heading to the Subway Series, they couldn't afford to make mistakes that could have been easily avoided.
Supporters and experts alike criticized Sanchez's lack of effort in tagging Villar, while some highlight it's a plain, terrible play.
wtf is Gary Sanchez doing? pic.twitter.com/zZZXpz9SKF
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) September 10, 2021
What an embarrassing play by Gary Sanchez. Had Villar out by 20 feet and essentially backed out of his way. An absolute el foldo. How is he anything more than a DH/backup catcher? pic.twitter.com/yUlLiIXHbs
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 10, 2021
Gary Sanchez with one of the worst defensive plays you’ll ever see from a catcher. Review overturned the call on the field https://t.co/c0cZ7HJ3I7
— Brandon Wile (@Brandon_N_Wile) September 10, 2021
Other joked about the real-life glitch that Sanchez went through, while some questioned the Yankees and their ability to compete at the highest level with players making such bad mistakes.
Gary Sanchez just did an MLB The Show glitch in real life.
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) September 10, 2021
You can’t call yourself a serious franchise while employing Gary Sanchez. It just can’t happen
— Earl (@YankeesFanEarl) September 10, 2021
This non play by Gary Sanchez is hard to make up. #MLB #Yankees pic.twitter.com/e4nFcFryxj
— Grunt Baseball (@Gruntbaseball) September 11, 2021
I’m very tired of lackadaisical players like Gleyber Torres & Gary Sanchez.
Need some more grinders on this team. Fundamental baseball players.
— Billy Reinhardt (@BillyReinhardt) September 11, 2021