Baseball is a sport where there’s an opportunity for strange situations to happen on a random Saturday afternoon in May. It’s what makes the sport great.
And in the case of Game 1 of a doubleheader between the Pirates and Reds on Saturday, a situation came up late in the contest that nobody anticipated. The Pirates were forced to use an emergency catcher.
Pittsburgh catcher Roberto Pérez injured himself when he tripped and fell rounding second base in the eighth inning and left the contest. Andrew Knapp, the Pirates’ backup, was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing a check-swing third strike call.