Monday was a strange day in the World Baseball Classic, as two games ended early as a result of the WBC’s mercy rule.
The rule states that if a team is leading by 15 runs or more after five innings or at least 10 after seven innings, the game can be finished.
Such was the case on Monday for Team Puerto Rico, who threw the first ever perfect game in WBC history, while also winning on a walk-off in a rather odd fashion.
Boston Red Sox star Enrique Hernandez delivered the “walk-off” hit before the ninth inning could even arrive, and on Twitter, the Red Sox celebrated their star’s performance by posting a cool graphic that featured his stats from the game against Team Israel.
Walking off a perfect game! 🇵🇷#WorldBaseballClassic | @kikehndez pic.twitter.com/xtkrHS2YIK
— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 14, 2023
Hernandez picked up two hits and drove in two runs, while also scoring a run himself.
This is certainly an interesting way to pick up a walk-off hit.
In any other scenario, this would not be possible.
But with the mercy rule being in effect during the WBC, strange things such as this can happen.
What made it even more interesting was the fact that it was a perfect game and that it came in the bottom of the eighth inning as opposed to the ninth or beyond.
Weird things can certainly happen in baseball, and such was the case on Monday.
But Hernandez was right at the center of it and delivered the final blow to Team Israel.
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