Pitcher Andy Sonnanstine Forced to Hit

Sunday’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Indians will go down as a memorable affair. Prior to the game, the Rays submitted an erroneous lineup card that listed two third basemen and no designated hitter. As a result, Tampa Bay didn’t get to use a designated hitter and instead had to bat starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine third in the lineup.

Andy Sonnanstine won with his arm and his bat (Image: Newscom)

Sonnanstine proved that giving him a bat wasn’t all bad as he had an RBI double in the fourth inning. On the mound, Sonnanstine got the win by giving up five earned runs in 5.2 innings. Neither team scored after the fifth inning and the Rays were able to beat the Indians by a final count of 7-5.

The hitting star for Tampa Bay, outside of Sonnanstine, was Jason Bartlett. The shortstop went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI to raise his batting average on the season up to .370.

Cleveland got a pair of homers from Ben Francisco as he finished 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and four RBIs. The loss dropped the Indians to 14-25, while the win propped the Rays up to 19-20.