The Oakland Athletics seemed poised to earn their major league-best 52nd win Monday night when they took a comfortable three-run lead into the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers.
Rajai Davis changed all that with one swing of the bat.
In one of the most dramatic plays possible on a baseball diamond, Davis came up with the bases loaded and one out and lifted a pitch from A’s closer Sean Doolittle into the left field seats to give the Tigers an amazing 5-4 walk-off win.
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Davis’ heroics were made even more impressive by the fact that his team was trailing by three runs, thus giving him the ultimate walk-off homer.
The 33-year-old is not the first to accomplish the feat, however. According to Baseball Almanac, 28 other players in major league history have hit “super” walk-off grand slams, meaning they hit their homers at home with their team trailing by three runs.
Before Davis’ clutch blast, Boston Red Sox infielder Ryan Roberts was the last player to pull off the “super” grand slam, as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 27, 2011.
Thumbnail photo via USA Today Sports Images
