Some people are calling him the sparkplug. The sparkplug in the nine hole. The guy who gets things started for the big bats at the top.
Tonight he was a pinch hitter. Not known for a big bat, a contact hitter, and with his team down 2-1 with runners on second and third, all Tony Kemp needed to do was make contact somewhere where their guys ain’t. A hit’s a run as they say, or two runs in this case, and if he could do it the Astros would have their first lead of the game.
With two strikes and seemingly overpowered, Kemp took an inside fastball and plunked it opposite field just inside the third baseman to score Tyler White and Yuli Gurriel, who had just hit an RBI double himself.