Jose Alvarado had the inning of a lifetime earlier this week, and now it is certain that he will never forget about it.
During a win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays reliever briefly played first base in the top of the ninth inning. Alvarado, a lefty, started the half-inning by pitching to the lefty-hitting Bryce Harper with a 1-0 lead. After Alvarado walked Harper, Rays manager Kevin Cash opted for righty reliever Chaz Roe to pitch to the righty-hitting Anthony Rendon. However, Cash boldly chose to move Alvarado to first base for one batter so that he could remain in the game to pitch to the lefty-hitting Nats afterwards.
Jose Alvarado is at first base pic.twitter.com/I0tFjbiWFd
— Adam Sanford (@Adam_A_Sanford) June 26, 2018
The move wound up being half-bad and half-good for the Rays. Alvarado would give up two straight singles to load the bases after returning to the mound from first base. However, the Rays closed out the game when Cash took Alvarado out for good and righty Sergio Romo recorded the final outs.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Alvarado showed off a funny gift that he received from a Tropicana Field security guard to commemorate the legendary inning: a mini Gold Glove. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times shared a pic:
#Rays Alvarado showing off the “Gold Glove” he got from a Trop security guard after getting to play at 1B Tuesday pic.twitter.com/v7EjHEhCj0
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 28, 2018
As for the Rays, they have been no stranger to out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to their pitchers this season. Thus, something tells us that the team may not hesitate to make such a move again in the future.
