Screen capture via YouTube/Minor League Baseball
It's best not to shoot blanks during your biggest game of the season. At least that's what a minor league pitcher came to find out after completely botching a pitch that would eventually cause his team to lose the Northwest League championships—on a walk-off balk. A rare breed indeed.The Eugene Emeralds acquired the nickname the "Bad News Ems" because they touted the Northwest League's worst overall record, but the league's playoff format awards spots based on first-half and second-half records, and Eugene's second half was good enough to nab the wild card spot. So they snuck into the playoffs, went undefeated, and then came up against the Spokane Indians for all the potatoes.That's when luck shone on the Bad News Ems once again, as they faced all-star closer Emmanuel Clase, who seemed to be having, uh, an off-night:Yes, drink in that walk-off balk. You'd think you'd be hard-pressed to see a game end that way, but just last month the Dodgers lost in the same fashion. Still, this was a championship game. To make matters worse for Spokane? Eugene was only in position to score the winning run on the balk because the Indians walked in the tying run just before. Not the best look. But tremendous news for the Bad News Ems.