A television camera became collateral damage during a Wild Card playoff game on Tuesday afternoon.
In the first game of the American League Wild Card series between the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Guardians, a fastball went foul and crashed hard into a camera.
Tigers star pitcher Tarik Skubal hurled a 100-mph pitch into Guardians batter Angel Martinez that the hitter fouled off on an 0-2 count.
Unfortunately, Martinez’s effort went straight back and into the lens of a camera – spilling shattered glass all over the field.
ESPN’s Sean McDonough wondered if it was one of his network’s cameras, but fortunately for him, it wasn’t.
Guardians groundskeepers at Progressive Field sprinted to clean up the debris as quick as they could. Eventually, play resumed.
A pitch fouled backwards by a Guardians player shattered the glass on a camera lens Tuesday
Tigers ace Tarik Skubal tossed 14 strikeouts in the victory on Tuesday in the AL Wild Card
Skubal, the 2024 Cy Young Award winner and one of the front-runners for the award this year, dominated the contest.
He tossed a blistering 14 strikeouts and only gave up three hits and one earned run across seven and two-thirds innings of pitching.
It helped to guide Detroit to a 2-1 lead and gave them their first win of a three-game series.
But on Wednesday afternoon, Cleveland won 6-1 to force a do-or-die Game 3 on Thursday afternoon.
This matchup is an improbable one, considering the Guardians were long considered out of the playoff hunt due to some mid-season struggles.
However, they managed to erase a deficit of 15 games behind the Tigers to win the AL Central division and secure home-field for this series.
The winner of Thursday’s Game 3 will move on to face the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS.
