Dodgers News: Hidden Ball Trick By Rays Fooled Uribe And Mattingly

In a play out of a movie, the Tampa Bay Rays successfully fooled Dodgers third baseman Juan Uribe with the hidden ball trick in the fourth inning today.

The Dodgers loaded the bases with three consecutive singles and A.J. Ellis stepped to the plate. Ellis sent a fly ball to Rays outfielder Wil Myers and Uribe tagged up from third.

What he didn’t realize was that Rays third baseman Evan Longoria had the ball and was ready to tag him out when he was off the base. Uribe talked about the incident after the game:

It’s apart of the game and I made a mistake. I’ve never seen it done before. I’ve never seen it done before, close, but never done. I was really surprised when it happened.

Uribe is in a contract year with the Dodgers and after his two below average seasons, he’s given them good production at third base.

Luis Cruz was supposed to challenge him for the spot, but Uribe responded well and is now hitting .259 with six home runs and 32 RBIs in 92 games.

When asked about the incident after the game, Don Mattingly admitted he wasn’t too sure about what was going on:

At first I thought he called him out for leaving to early on the tag. Obviously we can laugh about it now, but it’s a mistake and we’ll learn from it.

It’s easy to laugh at things when the Dodgers are 36-8 in their last 44 games, but Uribe’s mistake can’t become a growing trend amongst the team.

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In case you missed it, be sure to find out the latest on Matt Kemp’s ankle injury.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg0AP5LACzc