KANSAS CITY -- Entering Tuesday, 10 MLB players had fouled off 12 or more pitches in a game this season. Anthony Santander became the 11th in the Orioles’ 11-7 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night.
Santander achieved the feat in a rare manner, though. The Baltimore outfielder fouled off 12 pitches in the same at-bat -- consecutively.
That’s right. A dozen foul balls in a row came off the bat of Santander, who was locked in a battle with Kansas City right-hander Taylor Clarke at the start of the eighth inning. Santander ended up winning it, too, knocking Clarke’s 16th pitch of the at-bat to right field for a single.
Clarke opened the at-bat with a high sweeper for a ball. He then rebounded and got Santander to swing through a low inside sweeper to even the count at 1.
Then, the foul parade began. Santander fouled off every pitch from the third one he saw to the 14th -- a stretch during which Clarke threw six four-seam fastballs, four sweepers, one slider and one changeup. After Clarke’s 15th pitch was a sweeper in the dirt to make the count 2-2, he delivered another sweeper just below the zone that Santander flared to right, with his bat slipping out of his grip in the process.
It may have only had an exit velocity of 71.6 mph, per Statcast, but it dropped in for a hit. How was Santander feeling by the time he settled in at first base?
“Tired,” Santander said with a wide grin. “But don’t give away the AB. Focus to get on base.”
That was the approach Santander kept throughout the entire at-bat, even as the battle wore on.
“He was throwing really good pitches,” Santander said. “I missed a really good one that I should have hit. But it’s part of the game, and in the end, it was a base hit.”
They all count the same, and Santander will take it. Especially because he’s started a bit slow offensively this year, batting .222 through his first 26 games.
“What an at-bat,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “And he throws the bat for a single. Don’t see that all the time. It just shows you, honestly, the competitor he is. He’s grinding right now, big time, and he’s trying to find it. Just to see him spoil pitches -- off a good reliever, too -- spoil a ton of pitches, and then great to see him rewarded with a single there.”