Peralta goes inside-the-park after Raburn falls through fence
Score one for the man-eating fence at Cleveland's Progressive Field.
In one of the weirdest and unlikeliest plays of the season, Cleveland Indians infielder Jhonny Peralta(notes) was able to leg out a three-run inside-the-park home run during Sunday afternoon's first inning after Detroit Tigers center fielder Ryan Raburn(notes) crashed through a bullpen door in the outfield fence.
Whether or not one of the Indians relievers mistakenly left the door unlatched was unclear — and hey, who's that shadowy figure who moves out of the way just moments before? — but Raburn may have broken on through even if it were locked properly. After making a great attempt on Peralta's two-out drive, Raburn hit the door with such force that even Jhonny's 'h' was briefly forced back to its more traditional spot.
[Photos: More of Cleveland's Jhonny Peralta]
The jarring collision and unexpected landing took Raburn out of the play and a relay attempt by late-arriving left fielder Brennan Boesch(notes) didn't make it home in time. That left the slow-footed Peralta with an inside-the-park home run that no one saw coming, just two days after Bengie Molina(notes) recorded a cycle that no one saw coming.
How unlikely was Peralta's round-tripper? Well, as Baseball-Reference points out, he has only nine career stolen bases over eight seasons. And the inimitable Tater Trot Tracker notes that Peralta's plate-to-plate time of 16.74 seconds was slower than five regular home run trots completed in 2010.
Other popular Sports stories on Yahoo!:
• Video: LeBron bids on outrageous mansion
• NFL player talks about his dramatic shark dive
• Troubled NFL player’s incredible weight loss