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Peculiar Sequence of Events Ends in Two-Run Homer for Bryan Reynolds

The Mets looked bad, then good, then abysmal. In the end, the Pirates improved their chances of winning by a lot.

Josh Wilson

Luis Severino after giving up a home run
Luis Severino after giving up a home run /
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Knotted at two runs apiece in the bottom of the fifth inning on Friday, everything fell apart for Luis Severino and the New York Mets in a roller coaster sequence.

Severino attempted to pick off a runner at second base and threw the ball nowhere in the vicinity of a fielder, allowing the baserunners to advance to second and third. Then, Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez picked off the runner at third. Two pitches later, Bryan Reynolds took a fastball 399 feet for a two-run home run.

Well, at least they picked the guy off at third to limit the damage, right?

Here's a video of the crazy sequence:

Illustrating just how important a go-ahead run (or two) can be in the fifth inning, the homer increased the Pirates win probability by 21.3%.

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Josh Wilson

JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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