Late innings between the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins have a way of bringing Laz Diaz’s frustrations out in the open for the whole stadium to hear. Roughly two months after dropping an F-bomb at Target Field, Diaz gave a repeat performance at Anaheim on Thursday, during the Angels’ 5-4 walkoff win.
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At the bottom of the ninth, A.J. Minter was pitching for the Twins with the score knotted at 3. With two outs, Josh Lowe sent a fly ball deep into center field and stole second base. The umpires reviewed the play to check if it was a home run or a double. However, the on-field call (double) was upheld, and it was home plate umpire Laz Diaz’s responsibility to announce the verdict.
A mic’d-up Diaz got the job done but forgot to turn it off, and the first word that slipped out was an “F-bomb,” surprising everyone present, including himself. Foul Territory posted the funny video on X.
“Laz Díaz accidentally left his microphone on for the whole stadium to hear an f-bomb,” captioned Foul Territory.
After the call was upheld, Diaz announced, “After review, it is confirmed balls on play, man on second.”
Then came the funny part, as he quickly realized the mic on him was on.
“F—…oh that’s on,” Diaz was caught saying on camera.
This is the second time in two months that Diaz has found himself in a similar situation.
Just before the All-Star break, Diaz was recorded throwing expletives on camera. However, he was also in pain at the time, unlike on Thursday.
When the Angels and the Twins clashed on July 12, Diaz was the acting home plate umpire.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Wade Meckler was at the plate facing Andrew Morris. Meckler hit a foul ball that went straight to Diaz, hitting him in the groin area. Talk about painful.
When the ball boy came to home plate, mics picked up the umpire reportedly venting, “(Expletive), had to be the last (expletive) inning. (Expletive)!”
First Target Field, now 34,251 attendees at Angel Stadium remained witness to a hilarious moment.
From the play: As the Angels clinched the series opener 5-4 from the Twins, Walbert Urena dominated Minnesota.
Angels walk off Twins
With rookie starter Walbert Urena on the mound, the Angels dominated the Minnesota Twins’ lineup from the start. Moreover, the Angels got the best of Twins starter Taj Bradley at the bottom of the first.
With one out, Bradley walked Mike Trout and allowed three consecutive singles to Wade Meckler, Moises Ballesteros, and Denzer Guzman. The Angels scored on Ballesteros’ and Guzman’s RBI hits, loading the bases. Bradley could not escape the jam.
Another out later, Oswald Peraza drove in the third and final run of the inning on an RBI single.
Bradley struck out the next batter to end the inning. He did not slip again for the rest of the game. He kept the Angels hitters from adding any more runs for the remainder of his 7.0 innings.
However, the Twins did not manage a comeback with Urena on the mound either.
Urena went 7 innings deep and kept the Twins scoreless, fanning 9 hitters. The Twins did not score until the bullpen took over.
Walker Jenkins emerged as the key.
He scored on a sacrifice fly from Brooks Lee in the eighth and hit the game-tying home run in the next frame, effectively taking the game to extras.
As the Angels’ bullpen struggled, the Twins first took the lead with an RBI single from Brooks Lee. They also loaded the bases, but left-hander Blake Weiman struck out Royce Lewis to strand the runners.
Then, the Angels turned the game in their favor at the bottom of the frame.
Vaughn Grissom started the tenth inning with a fly ball to move automatic runner José Siri to third. Then Zach Neto drew a walk, and Mike Trout singled to tie the score. Trout also used the ABS challenge to overturn a potential third strike.
On a 2-2 count, Trout recorded the clutch single.
Meanwhile, Zach Neto advanced to third as Trout singled, meaning Wade Meckler could drive in the winning run. And Meckler did just that.
He sent the first pitch he saw to the right, recording his first walk-off in MLB.
Next, on Friday, the Twins will aim to level the series, while Laz Diaz will make sure to keep his mic turned off.