August 1, 2023 may be the nadir for the New York Mets after so many trades set them up for the future, but marked the near-end of a disappointing season that had so many expectations ahead of it.
It also marks the day in which the team lost in pretty bad fashion: A walk-off balk gave the Kansas City Royals a win.
Now, we’ve seen walk-off balks before: There was the Rays’ balk to give the Reds a win in 2022. There was Keone Kela in 2015 doing the same.
Still: Quite a way to lose. This time, it was Josh Walker who came in with the bases loaded. While standing on the rubber, his back leg flinched. Francisco Alvarez called time to discuss, but it was too late:
The Royals won on a "balk-off" in extras after the umps called this a balk despite the Mets claiming that it was because of pitchcom issues pic.twitter.com/vyU2fDGEaK
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 2, 2023
What happened? Per NorthJersey.com:
Walker forgot to pick up the PitchCom and as he struggled to relay that he was missing the device to Francisco Alvarez, the lefty reliever’s knee buckled off the rubber. …
“I just was up there, I didn’t have a PitchCom in my ear, so me and (Francisco Alvarez) didn’t have communication,” Walker said. “Basically, I was trying to relay that to him and then I went to step off and my foot was kind of in the footprint where the guy’s been throwing and I think my knee buckled a little bit before I stepped off and that was what they got me.”
Oof.