Guardians' Austin Hedges was in bizarre place when walk-off HR clinched wild-card win
The Cleveland Guardians shocked the baseball world when they captured the AL Central this season, won their wild-card round series against the Tampa Bay Rays and ultimately pushed the New York Yankees to Game 5 of the ALDS before falling. In the team's epic, marathon 15-inning wild-card round-clinching victory over the Rays, catcher Austin Hedges found himself in a very odd situation when teammate Oscar Gonzalez hit a solo walk-off home run.
He was using the restroom, he told Chris Rose.
Per Baseball Reference, Hedges had long since been removed from the contest when Gonzalez hit the blast, as he was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the 11th of the then-scoreless affair. The backstop finished the game 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
Hedges — who was acquired via a trade from the San Diego Padres in August 2020 — ended the 2022 regular season with seven home runs, 30 RBI and a .163/.241/.248 slash line over 294 at-bats covering 105 games. He went 2-for-15 with five strikeouts in seven playoff contests this fall.
The wild-card round clincher against Tampa Bay lasted four hours and 57 minutes, so it's no wonder Hedges had to eventually take a bathroom break. He just happened to pick a very inopportune time to do so.
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