Announcer Accurately Predicts Dramatic Walk-Off HR Right Before Tampa Bay Secures Historic Win
Every baseball fan enjoys two things: making predictions about their team and being right about those predictions.
While calling the Tampa Bay Rays’ Friday game against the Chicago White Sox, color commentator Brian Anderson got to do both things — on national television.
“You know what I smell?”
Our own color commentator, Brian Anderson, legit predicted tonight’s Brandon Lowe walk-off 🤯 pic.twitter.com/aniTi1oxFk
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) April 22, 2023
Tampa entered the ninth inning down by two and looking like they would fall a few games shy of the mark.
According to ESPN, Christian Bethancourt led off the bottom of the ninth inning by hitting a home run over the right field fence to make the score 7-6. He paused at second after the ball was dropped by a fan and bounced back into play, but the umpires ended up ruling it a home run.
𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 goes solo 🚀
After some debate from the umpires, Bethancourt’s solo HR brings the Rays within 1!!!@RaysBaseball | #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/4ZIE4UbCsp
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) April 22, 2023
Yandy Diaz followed that home run with a single that brought up Brandon Lowe.
“You know what I smell?” Anderson asked as Lowe stepped up to the plate. “Walk-off,” he concluded, referring to a game-ending home run.
The left-handed Lowe got a slider inside and pulled it over the right field fence for a walk-off home run, securing an 11-0 home start for the Tampa Bay Rays.
“That baby is gone,” Anderson said as the crowd erupted.
“That was a pretty good win,” manager Kevin Cash told MLB after the game. “I don’t know if we could say we saw that one coming.”
But at least one person at the ball park, it seems, did see it coming.
Anderson predicted the blast, but after further thought, others may have seen it coming as well. After all, as reported by MLB, the Rays, with 45 home runs this season, have hit the second most home runs through 20 games in the history of Major League Baseball.
After the game, Lowe’s teammates gave him a “Gatorade bath” as they celebrated the win, and he was still soaking wet during the post game interview.
“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚”
Fresh off a Gatorade bath, Brandon Lowe recaps his first career walk-off HR with @Ry_Bass! Rays win 8-7!@RaysBaseball | #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/1rWfnO9k5U
— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) April 22, 2023
“It’s pretty great. It’s an awesome feeling,” Lowe said after the game, MLB reported. “I think this might be [the] first walk-off homer of my life, honestly. It’s always awesome.”
The Rays won their first 13 games of the season, tying the old record set by the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers and 1982 Atlanta Braves. Their streak came to an end on April 14 against the Toronto Blue Jays, just one game short of breaking the all-time MLB record.
They are still unbeaten at home, however, with 13 straight home wins to start the season.
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