A remarkable, but far from unknown, thing in professional sports is when brothers-in-law face each other on the field. That happened twice in a MLB game between the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays Sunday, where the Tigers’ Javier Báez had two remarkable at-bats against his brother-in-law, Blue Jays’ starting pitcher Jose Berríos. The first at-bat, in the first inning, saw Báez foul off four pitches (with two of those looking like potential home runs) before finally earning a walk:
The next time they faced each other, in the fourth inning, Báez smacked a home run that stayed fair:
In-law on in-law crime.
Javy Báez takes his brother-in-law José Berrios deep
@TalkinBaseball_pic.twitter.com/9uNG9vmYWF — The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) July 31, 2022
That was the only hit of the day for Báez (seen above hitting that home run). In the sixth inning, still against Berríos, he flied out to Toronto left fielder Teoscar Hernandez. In the ninth inning, against Jordan Romano, he popped out to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., which helped clinch the Blue Jays’ eventual 4-1 win. But those initial two at-bats against his brother-in-law were certainly notable, for the first one producing multiple could-have-been home runs before the eventual walk, and for the second one producing an actual home run.
On the year, Báez (who signed with Detroit in free agency last November) is hitting just .220/.263/.371, well below his career slash line of .260/.302/.466. But he definitely had a couple of good at-bats Sunday against a pitcher he knew well. The Jays’ eventual win improved them to 57-45 on the season, though, while the Tigers’ loss dropped them back to 41-62.
[MLB Gameday; photo from Gerry Angus/USA Today Sports]