Josh Donaldson was convinced he hit a home run to give the New York Yankees a lead in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday.
The only problem is the line drive hit the top of the wall, bounced back into play, and Donaldson wound up getting thrown out while rounding first base in the midst of his trot. The veteran even high-fived first base coach Travis Chapman in celebration.
Josh Donaldson thought he homered and got thrown out after trotting around first base pic.twitter.com/zw9gOJcNI1
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 12, 2022
Guardians right fielder Oscar Gonzalez played it perfectly, throwing a seed to Amed Rosario covering second base. By the time Donaldson realized, he was in a run down and wound up getting tagged out by Josh Naylor while attempting to retreat back to first.
The play went to replay review, where umpires confirmed that the ball never went over the wall, nor was it interfered with by a fan.
While the Yankees wound up taking a one-run lead later in the same inning on a Jose Trevino sacrifice fly, it would've been a two-run lead if Donaldson safely reached base.
It never came back to bite the Bronx Bombers any further, as they went on to win 4-1. After a day off, the Yankees and Guardians will resume their ALDS with Game 2 on Thursday at Yankee Stadium. Left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. will toe the slab for New York against Cleveland ace Shane Bieber.
