Comedy of Pirates errors on one play sparks explosive first inning for Yankees

To call this a Little League play would be an injustice to Little League.

The New York Yankees hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday for the first of a three-game series. Home fans got their money’s worth in the first inning.

With a man on first and one out, Paul Goldschmidt hit a ground ball between second and third base that should have resulted in an inning-ending double play. It did not.

Pirates third baseman Nick Gonzales attempted to field the ball, but instead let it bounce off his glove and into shallow left field.

From there, left fielder Bryan Reynolds fielded the ball and attempted to throw it home to to keep Ben Rice at third. Instead, he planted the ball directly into the ground in front of his feet.

Rice capitalized on the mistake and rounded third to score without a play at the plate.

If you’re scoring at home, Goldschmidt reached first on a fielding error by Gonzales and second on a fielder’s choice. Rice reached home for a 1-0 Yankees lead on a throwing error by Reynolds.

And remember, a properly executed double play would have ended the inning. Instead, Cody Bellinger put runners on the corners with a single on the next at-bat. And Jazz Chisholm brought everybody home with a blast into the right-field bleachers for a 4-0 Yankees lead in the first inning.

Making matters worse for starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft, the scoring of the play with two errors didn’t account for the potential double-play that was lost. Three of those four runs were scored as earned.