Frazier's unusual RBI double sticks in fence

Drive to left-center plates Hicks, leaves Astros' Springer dumbfounded

October 14th, 2017

HOUSTON -- The Yankees scored their lone run in an unusual fashion in Saturday's Game 2 of the American League Championship Series presented by Camping World, as third baseman 's RBI ground-rule double got lodged in the left-field fence in the fifth inning.
The Astros went on to win, 2-1, on a walk-off double from in the ninth. Houston leads the series, 2-0.
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sparked the rally with an opposite-field double with two outs off Astros right-hander before Frazier roped an 0-1 slider from Verlander that caught too much of the zone. It left the bat at 99.7 mph and went a projected 391 feet per Statcast™, getting stuck in the fence above center fielder . Frazier entered the game 5-for-17 with two homers off Verlander, and he said he drew on that experience in his at-bat.
"Just from facing him a lot, he's one of those guys where he's going to throw strikes," Frazier said. "He threw me a strike on the first pitch and the second pitch, and I got one out over the plate and drove it, luckily. I know what he's trying to do. It's still tough to hit off him. That's for sure."
"I didn't really know what to do, because I know you have to at least make an attempt to play the ball," Springer said. "So I was kind of just trying to find it. I didn't really know it was stuck until the bullpen guys pointed it out."
Frazier didn't know the ball was lodged in the fence until he got back to the dugout after running all the way home just in case.
"You know in these games, crazier things have happened, so I just kept running," Frazier said. "The next thing you know, they reviewed it, but you never know what happens, so I was just trying to go home. I was going all-out, 100 percent."
It was a play that caught Houston manager A.J. Hinch by surprise, especially because the ball never bounced and got stuck on the fly.

"I've been here three years, but I haven't seen a ball get lodged in that left-center field area like that," Hinch said.
Frazier was awarded the ground-rule double, scoring Hicks, but he was stranded with lining out to center field on a well-struck ball that had an exit velocity of 96.1 mph, according to Statcast™.