The Texas Rangers were winning 4-3 vs. the Chicago White Sox in the bottom of the ninth inning, there was one out with two runners on base.
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White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn was at the plate and hit a 350-foot bomb to left field, as fans stood to their feet at Guaranteed Rate Field hoping to witness what would have been just their 32nd win of the season. That is to say, Rangers Left Fielder Travis Jankowski destroyed all hopes of a walk-off home run celebration as he leaped up over the wall to make the grab.
TRAVIS JANKOWSKI TAKES AWAY A WALK-OFF HOME RUN 😲 pic.twitter.com/wM00UjMlC6
— MLB (@MLB) August 29, 2024
No one was more happy than closer Andrew Chafin, who was in danger of giving up a blown save.
"That's the first time a guy has ever robbed a home run for me," Chafin said. "I told him [Jankowski] I owed him a few steak dinners for that one... I thought it was going to skip off the moon and ricochet fair... Off the bat, it was like, 'Well, I screwed this one up,' and then it came down in his glove, and it was the greatest moment in a long time."
"I guess he's the outfield closer, and this game I was the attempted closer," Chafin jokingly said.
Andrew Chafin is showing love to Travis Jankowski after saving him from a 3-run walkoff Home Run to the worst team in baseball. pic.twitter.com/6OPH0iweHk
— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) August 29, 2024
The Rangers manager Bruce Bochy also exclaimed in the postgame interviews, "He [Jankowski] saved the game."
"He saved the game"
Bruce Bochy could hardly get his words out he was so excited! He talks about what these wins today mean to the team.#StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/OVqjk9m1yF
— FanDuel Sports Network Southwest (@FanDuelSN_SW) August 29, 2024
Considering the situation, Jankowski was actually a defensive replacement, and made his first appearance during the bottom of the ninth inning, just in time to be the hero.
In view of how high the fly ball was, with almost a 6-second hang time, it gave Jankowski just enough time to put himself in position to make what he called it, the play of a lifetime.
"The hang time was perfect," Jankowski described the play. "If it was a foot farther, probably out of my reach... It's the perfect alignment. We were playing deep. I was pull side, so a little bit deeper than I probably should have been. Just everything lined up perfect. Timed the jump pretty good, and thank God it stayed in my mitt."
"Not even joking, if that ball would have come out of my mitt, I wouldn't have slept tonight," Jankowski continued. "...When you get an opportunity like that, especially the timing of the game, save the game... That's a once-in-a-lifetime play, and you're not getting that one back. It felt good to make that play."
Difference in commentary. Andrew Vaughn gets robbed of a game-winning homer by Jankowski. Unreal stuff pic.twitter.com/9zv1eBgqgK
— Nabil S. (@Gamecrasher_13) August 29, 2024
The guy who was almost the hero tonight, Vaughn, gave props to Jankowski for making the grab on his near game-winning home run.
"It's probably one of the best catches you'll see in a long time," Vaughn said in the postgame interviews. "Got to hand it to him. That at-bat, that situation, put a good swing. You know, came that close."
This just adds another disappointing result to what has been an absolutely disheartening season for the White Sox, who now have 31 wins and 103 losses, which puts them on pace to have one of the worst season records in MLB history (162-game season). To note, they have a chance at the record, which is held by the 2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119).
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