Balking is Bad

Well, I watched Armando Benitez (SF) lose a game against the Mets by, in part, incurring 2 balks in the 12th inning, when the Giants entered the inning ahead 4-3. A balk is a fairly technical error by a pitcher with a man on base. It's pretty rare in the major leagues and to do more than one in a game is very rare. So my own pitcher gets two in one inning and ends up losing the game when a runner scores on the second balk, followed by an admittedly well-hit HR by Carlos Delgado. I'm not sure I've ever seen a balk called in a MLB game before. Even the announcers weren't sure the balks were legit.

I suppose I can console myself that 2 balks in a single game, much less a single inning, isn't even a record. The most number of balks in a single game is 5, and actually three in a single inning.

I'm still annoyed, especially since I could have really used the save.


RFSJ