LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 02: Juan Soto #22 of the San Diego Padres walks in the third inning during the game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium on Friday, September 2, 2022 in Los Angeles, California . (Photo by Michael Owens/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Michael Owens/Getty Images
The top of the second inning of this afternoon’s Game 2 of the NLCS has not been kind to the San Diego Padres and Juan Soto.
The Philadelphia Phillies put up a fourth spot in the frame, thanks in large part to an unfortunate misplay by Soto in right field. What should have been a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning and an RBI turned into a run-scoring double and no out thanks to the sun at Petco Park.
Soto was unable to make what seemed like a routine play because he lost sight of the ball.
Soto wasn’t the only Padre to have a fielding miscue in the second; first baseman Brandon Drury bobbled a grounder which turned what should have been an inning-ending double play into a run-scoring groundout.
However, Soto’s play is unsurprisingly the one that is being discussed the most.
“The Sun getting in Juan Soto’s eyes to allow another run. Phillies may really be a Team of Destiny,” tweeted Heavy’s Sean Barnard.
“The sun was clearly causing issues from the first pitch,” explained Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser. “Both Kim and Grisham struggled with it on the first two plays of the game. Now, Soto loses one at a very inopportune moment.”
“Thank you sun. Thank you Soto,” tweeted a Phillies fan Gavin McHugh.
Fortunately for San Diego, which lost Game 1 on Tuesday night, their defensive mistakes may have woken up their potent bats.
Trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning, the Padres immediately got two runs back on back-to-back solo homers from Drury and Josh Bell.
You can catch Padres-Phillies on FS1.
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