Los Angeles Angels second baseman Luis Rengifo was benched after losing track of the number of outs during Wednesday night's game against Toronto.
It happened in the top of the seventh inning with one out and Blue Jays runners on first and second with Toronto leading 4-1. Blue Jays batter Anthony Santander hit a grounder to Rengifo at second that looked like a perfect double play ball to end the inning. However, instead of throwing to shortstop Zach Neto, who was covering second, Rengifo took his time and made the easy toss to Nolan Schanuel at first. Since this was only the second out of the inning, Rengifo's gaffe allowed the Blue Jays runners to advance to second and third respectively.
Luis Rengifo is now out of the game.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) May 8, 2025
I wonder if it's because of this. (There was one out here.) pic.twitter.com/IlDvzZ4d5T
It is inexcusable for a major league baseball player to lose track of the number of outs. In Rengifo's case, it is even more unforgivable because THIS IS NOT HIS FIRST TIME MAKING THIS MISTAKE.
The scenario last year against the Guardians was very similar, except Rengifo was covering second base. Rengifo received the throw from Neto at short for the putout, but instead of completing the double play by throwing to first, he held onto the ball and started jogging to the dugout thinking he made the third out and the inning was over.
In both cases, the Angels got out of the inning without giving up a run. This time, however, shortstop Kevin Newman took over for Rengifo at second base to start the next inning. We would imagine that Rengifo's repeat offense in losing track of the outs led to his benching this time around, and we certainly don't blame Angels manager Ron Washington for doing so.
As luck would have it, the Angels rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning for a walk-off 5-4 win. As for Rengifo, will he learn his lesson this time? He really needs to step up and get his head in the game.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
