"Holy sh*t": Clement hits ridiculous home run for Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement has hit 10 home runs this season, but we’ll bet that he’ll probably never hit a weirder one than he did last night.
Facing off against Los Angeles Angels pitcher Mike Baumann, Clement clobbered the ball out of the park in a home run that has to be seen to be believed.
As part of a five-run second-inning rally, Clement got thrown a 96.7 mph fastball on a pitch way up on the plate, and one that looked well above the strike zone.
But Clement took a hack at it anyway and managed to sail the pitch over the Rogers Centre fence to give Toronto a 4-0 lead.
Ernie Clement’s home run came on a pitch 4.60 feet off the ground, the second-highest pitch hit for a home run in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
It's nearly at his eyeballs here. #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/7LcRdKMRk7
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) August 22, 2024
“I’ve never seen that before,” manager John Schneider said, via MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “I basically just said ‘Holy sh*t’ with everyone else in the dugout. That’s just elite bat-to-ball skills. It’s kind of a blessing and a curse and he’s swinging a really hot bat right now. That was pretty ridiculous.”
Toronto ended up winning the contest by a 5-3 score.
And what did Clement learn from the whole ordeal?
“I mean… I probably shouldn’t be swinging at pitches like that,” Clement joked postgame.
The Jays are 60-66, last place in the American League East, and are a far cry from any shot of reaching the postseason, but moments like Clement’s remind you that there’s still the possibility of magic any night at the ballpark.
The Blue Jays return to action on Friday against the Angels, with the first pitch set for 7:07 pm ET, with Chris Bassitt taking the mound for Toronto. It’s the first start for Bassitt following some comments earlier in the week that he made about the Jays not having a “pivot” after missing out on Shohei Ohtani in the offseason, though he later clarified it was not meant to be a dig at the team’s front office.
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