Adolis Garcia got quite the tongue-lashing Sunday courtesy of Bruce Bochy.
The Texas Rangers star committed an avoidable blunder in the ninth inning of his team’s game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash. Garcia led off the top of the ninth against Mariners closer Andres Munoz as the Rangers trailed 5-4.
With power hitter Joc Pederson on deck, Garcia was able to draw a leadoff walk against Munoz. Pederson put a 2-0 pitch in play toward shortstop JP Crawford that looked like a potential double play.
Crawford bobbled the ball, which may have made Garcia complacent. The Rangers veteran did not slide into second base and got called out by a fraction of a second. Instead of having two runners on with no outs, Garcia was out at second on a force play.
During his postgame press conference, Bochy lambasted Garcia over what he called a “brain cramp” in the final inning.
“There’s no excuse, absolutely no excuse in the game,” the Rangers manager said, via Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant. “This can’t happen. I don’t know what he was thinking. Once [Crawford] booted the ball, maybe he thought he had it, but it can’t happen. It’s a game changer. We could have had first and second with no outs. You just play the game. You don’t stop.
“…You are always going to look back at a game you think you should have won. There’s no dwelling on it. It’s fair to say things could have been different. It was a tough road trip. It’s a shame that he had a brain cramp there.”
Pinch runner Sam Haggerty was caught stealing second base before Munoz struck out Rangers center fielder Wyatt Langford for the final out.
Garcia has cemented his place in Texas history with his MVP-worthy play during his team’s 2023 World Series run. Adolis has been unable to recreate that magic over the last two seasons, despite still giving Rangers fans some incredible moments.
Through 108 games, Garcia has hit just .228 with 16 home runs and 63 RBIs. The poor numbers were a big reason why the Rangers reportedly considered trading Garcia right before the deadline.
