Right after he hit a go-ahead homer, too.
Right on the money
The Red Sox aren’t going to catch the Rays in the division race, but Boston’s game Wednesday night against Tampa Bay was still a big one. The Red Sox entered the night having lost their last three games as they maintain a slim lead over the Yankees and Blue Jays in the wild-card race.
Boston was trailing 1–0 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth when Hunter Renfroe came to bat. He smashed a towering two-run homer over the Green Monster to give his team the lead.
Red Sox closer Hansel Robles got two quick strikeouts in the ninth, but then Joey Wendle hit a sharp liner to center that escaped the reach of a diving Danny Santana. Renfroe backed him up, though, and tracked the ball down on the edge of the warning track as Wendle motored toward third. He then uncorked a perfect one-hop throw to third that nailed Wendle just in time.
If you watch only one angle of the throw, make it this one.
It doesn’t get any better than that. You need to have some ridiculous arm strength to uncork a throw that strong from the deepest part of the ballpark. And Renfroe has some ridiculous arm strength. That wasn’t the only impressive throw he made Wednesday night. He also nabbed Manuel Margot at second as he attempted to stretch a single into a double in the fourth.
Those two assists gave Renfroe 16 on the year, the most of any outfielder in the majors. No other outfielder has more than 12.
The game-sealing play was also a bit of redemption for Renfroe after Monday’s game, when he failed to back up center fielder Alex Verdugo and Austin Meadows scored the game-tying run in the ninth on an inside-the-park home run.
For his heroic effort Wednesday night, Renfroe was rewarded with a classic Gatorade shower from his teammates.
Who wants free stuff?
I know I always say a giveaway is a good one when I do them, but this one is a really good one. Today I’ve got four copies of the Call of Duty: Vanguard beta to give away. (Important note: These are only Xbox codes.) For more information on the game and beta access, visit this link.
Here’s how to win:
- Go back to Wednesday’s Hot Clicks.
- Find the names of the three Cowboys players Tom Brady was referring to when complaining about jersey numbers.
- Send me an email (dan.gartland@si.com) with Call of Duty giveaway as the subject line and all three names in the body text.
- The 10th, 20th, 30th and 40th persons to follow those instructions will win.
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This is what happens when you lose on purpose
I can count the number of people who will buy this on one hand. The jacket is $250!
I’ll believe anything about Babe Ruth
Not sports
A naked woman in Florida drove a golf cart into the middle of a standoff between police and a man with a gun. ... The fossil of a giant 500-million-year-old “swimming head” was discovered in Canada. ... A Spanish bishop resigned his post after falling in love with a woman who writes satanic erotica. ... Last week’s flooding in New York is causing bloated rat carcasses to wash up on beaches after hundreds of thousands of them drowned.
Little baby apples!
The rubber ones work just fine
This doesn’t sit well with me
A good song
Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.