The Blue Jays announcer apparently compelled Ubaldo Jimenez to throw a pitch into the camera
Coming into the Orioles' 2-0 win against the Blue Jays on Thursday, Ubaldo Jimenez had struggled in Toronto. In 27 career innings at Rogers Centre, Jimenez had a 6.33 ERA. While discussing the starter's struggles, Blue Jays broadcaster Pat Tabler seemingly willed Jimenez into tossing the ball high over the plate.
On an 0-2 pitch to
Perhaps Tabler's psychic powers were actually a good omen. Jimenez went on to pitch a masterful eight-inning, two-hit, one-walk masterpiece. In fact, his game score of 90 was the highest of his career. Even his no-hitter in 2010 only scored an 88 on the Bill James-created metric, because he walked six batters that day.
So yeah, one wild pitch -- when there wasn't even anyone on base -- is more than a fair tradeoff.