Xander Bogaerts couldn’t get his bat out of the way fast enough.
With a 437-foot home run already to his name, Bogaerts was looking at a 2-1 count against a wild Tanner Scheppers during the sixth inning of last night’s game against the Texas Rangers. The bases were loaded. It was Bogaerts’ at-bat to win.
Scheppers fired his next pitch toward Bogaerts’ head. The shortstop ducked, but the pitch hit the knob of his bat, stuck him in a 2-2 count and forced Bogaerts to swing at a high-and-outside slider that he lined to center fielder Leonys Martin for the third out of the inning.