Dodgers’ Hong-Chih Kuo plays long-toss at the wrong time in All-Star game
He could laugh about it, and so he did.
The All-Star game blooper reel was headed by Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, whose throw to first base was so far off-target that he had to invent several explanations.
Kuo started the fifth inning for the National League. He got two strikes on Evan Longoria, then walked him. Joe Mauer then tapped a ground ball toward the mound, which Kuo fielded cleanly and then threw over the head of first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, way over his head and way down the right-field line.
The American League converted the error into an unearned run, the lone run of the game to that point. However, since the NL rallied for a 3-1 victory, Kuo used his imagination to account for the error.
To one wave of reporters, Kuo explained the throw this way: “I thought it was Loney.” (James Loney, the Dodgers’ first baseman, is listed at 6 feet 3. Gonzalez, the San Diego Padres’ first baseman, is generously listed at 6-2.)
To the next wave of reporters, Kuo offered this: “Maybe I tried to throw a curve ball, and it didn’t break.”
The Dodgers’ Andre Ethier, who had moved into right field that inning, had an up-close-and-personal view of the play. The throw was so wild that Ethier turned to the video board to get another view of the play.
“I was running over there, and sure enough the ball was bouncing against the wall,” Ethier said. “I looked at the replay. It was a pretty good toss. I think it was a changeup that got away from him.”
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