There are some moments in baseball that just seem too good to be true. For new Chicago White Sox pitcher Craig Kimbrel, he has his such moment during his team's matchup against the Chicago Cubs on Friday, although he was on the wrong end of the script.
Coming into the White Sox's road game against the Cubs on Friday, Kimbrel had allowed a mere two earned runs all season, which had him boasting a video game-like 0.47 ERA.
In a moment that you have to just see to believe, Kimbrel, the presumed best reliever this season, allowed a game-tying, three-run home run against Cubs utility player Andrew Romine.
This was Romine's first home run since the 2017 season.
A good time for Andrew Romine's first homer as a Cub 💯 pic.twitter.com/CouO1zr78J
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 6, 2021
Craig Kimbrel gave up 2 ER in 36.1 IP with the Cubs this season.
He just gave up 3 ER on a single swing of the bat against his former team in the 8th inning here at Wrigley.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) August 6, 2021
The odds of Kimbrel allowing a home run to Romine in this situation were evidently as low as they come.
Fortunately for Kimbrel, the White Sox wound up tagging four runs off the Cubs bullpen in the top of the 10th inning, which included a notable two-run home run by outfielder Brian Goodwin. The White Sox bullpen issues struck once again in the bottom half of the inning as Garrett Crochet allowed two runs, but the team managed to hang on for a dramatic 8-6 win.
For Kimbrel, his ERA rose up to 1.14, which means that new Houston Astros pitcher Kendall Graveman is the new current ERA leader among all qualified relievers this season (minimum 30 innings pitched) thanks to an impressive 0.76 ERA.
The White Sox sure hope that this was all just a minor hiccup by Kimbrel, especially as they will be calling upon the veteran reliever in high leverage situations out of the bullpen over the remainder of the season. More so, they will surely look to Kimbrel in key situations come postseason time, which could include key duels against the Boston Red Sox or Houston Astros' potent lineups.
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