Originally Posted by
Jim3k
On Tuesday night, Inge showed he still has athleticism.
With 2 outs in the 7th, A's up 5-1, Cody Ross on second (doubled) and Punto on first due to a walk, Aviles faced A's reliever Brian Fuentes. Aviles hit a sharp grounder to Inge, who made a tough handle on slippery ground, lost his footing in the wet and recovered in time to lunge at and tag Ross who was starting to slide into third. (For some reason, MLB.com says it was a force out, but it was a tag which got Ross in the midsection.) That actually may have been a game winning play, because had the third out not been made, the roof could have fallen in.
Later the Sawks got two runs against the A's closer who fared poorly, getting only one out, and who himself was relieved with the tying run at the plate (Anderson, then Pedroia). That pitcher was Norberto (the guy I accused earlier of being a AAA pitcher). It was Norberto's first save, striking Anderson out then getting Pedroia to ground to second. Norberto's been doing better of late, so maybe my assessment was premature, if not outright wrong.
At the plate, Inge went 0 for 5, though he put the ball in play four times, and protected the base stealers twice. (The A's stole third four times.)
Still don't know why MLB says the play was a force out. Yahoo calls it a fielder's choice.