National League rules can lead to some strange happenings in extra-inning games, like the one that took place Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
With the Brewers and Baltimore Orioles tied at six in the bottom of the 10th, Milwaukee found itself out of position players. That left manager Ron Roenicke with two options: let closer Francisco Rodriguez take just the third at-bat of his career — a virtual automatic out — or send one of his other pitchers to the plate.
Luckily for Roenicke, he had an ace in his back pocket in right-hander Yovani Gallardo, a career .204 hitter — which, by pitchers’ standards, is like batting .450 — with 12 home runs to his credit.
Gallardo didn’t need the long ball to push his team to victory, though, as his pinch-hit double to the warning track scored Mark Reynolds from second and allowed the Brewers to walk off with a 7-6 win.
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Gallardo won’t have much time to bask in the glory of his game-winning hit. He’s scheduled to return to his usual position — starting pitcher — in Wednesday night’s series finale.
