The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres faced off on Wednesday in a battle of California teams. Both rosters feature big hitters, but Darin Ruf of the Giants stole the show with a wild home run. He scored after his ball bounced off a Padres defender and out of the park.
The bizarre moment occurred during the second inning with the score tied at 0-0. Ruf hit a 94-mph pitch and launched it deep into the outfield. Jorge Mateo ran backward and jumped into the air with his glove extended. He appeared to have them out, but the ball bounced out of his glove and went over the wall. Mateo landed and then looked around for the ball.
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Man, that’s Ruf. pic.twitter.com/1DOB4kGbNe
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 7, 2021
“Mateo had one job — and he gave us a 2-0 lead,” one fan tweeted in response to the video. Several others weighed in and expressed their opinions about the wild play. A few said that they don’t care how the home run happened. They just said that they were happy to have the lead over the Padres.
The Giants had one player on second base at the time of the home run, so the play gave the team a 2-0 lead. “Darin Ruf does it again, but he does it the hard way,” one of the announcers said. The other weighed in and said “I hope Mateo gets a little bit of an assist. Or at least he should.”
Following the surprising play against the Padres, Ruf now has two home runs on the season. His first took place during Monday’s 3-2 victory over the Padres. Ruf launched a ball over the center-field wall on what was his first hit of the season. His second put the Giants in a position to win another game against the Padres and capture the three-game series in San Diego.
Heading into the 2021 campaign, there were questions about whether Ruf would make the final roster. He was one of the bubble players after striking out on 30% of his at-bat opportunities during the spring. He also received the second-most plate appearances. Despite rumors of a potential trade or release, the Giants kept Ruf around, and he repaid them with two home runs against the Padres.
With the series against the Padres complete, the Giants will now head back to the Bay Area. The team will host the Rockies for a three-game series, providing Ruf with more opportunities to hit home runs. Although any potential big hits won’t draw quite as much attention.
