Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

In a fit of pure baseball insanity, a position player gave up a home run to a pitcher

Down was up, cats were dogs and Coors Field ... well, Coors Field was still the same. In the fourth inning of the Rockies' 19-2 victory over the D-backs on Wednesday, Daniel Descalso was brought in to pitch for Arizona. In the midst of a career year at the plate, the D-backs were asking their super-utility player for some serious innings to protect the bullpen.
Things were looking OK ... until the fifth inning when German Márquez came to the plate. He blasted the first pitch he saw to the moon.
If you watch Descalso closely, you can see the light in his soul disappear as he hangs his head in disbelief: 

Despite the increased prevalence of position players taking the mound, this was the first time a pitcher had taken a fielder deep since 1986. That Giants' Mike LaCoss last pulled it off when he went deep against the Padres' Dane Iorg. 
Descalso shouldn't feel too bad, though. Not only did he go 2 2/3 innings -- topping the 2 1/3 career innings he'd pitched before -- but when he singled in the top of the fifth, it was while in the lineup as a pitcher. Nothing makes sense anymore.  

BarberJordan
beephero
AP_702417634020
NYC