April 16 (UPI) -- Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez was thrown out at first base after thinking his teammate had walked in the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins.
The awkward sequence occurred in the Blue Jays' 5-3 win against the Twins Monday at Target Field in Minneapolis. Toronto's Justin Smoak led off the inning with a ground out before Hernandez followed with a single to left field.
Hernandez stood on second base as Brand Drury stepped in to face Twins starter Martin Perez. The left-handed pitcher worked a 2-2 count against Drury, before tossing in a 96.1-mph fastball. That offering also missed the strike zone.
Drury first stepped out of the box and took off some of his gear and threw his bat toward the dugout, appearing to have picked up a walk. But it was only ball three.
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Most of the other players went along with it before the Twins alerted Perez that Drury did not complete the walk. Perez tossed over to first base to pick up the second out of the inning because Hernandez had left the base and was heading to second. Drury walked on the next pitch.
Alen Hanson hit a fly ball to left field for the final out in the top half of the inning.
Hernandez redeemed himself for the blunder two innings later, hitting a three-run homer in the top of the eighth and giving the Blue Jays the 5-3 advantage.
"I think you forget about things like that when you do things good for the team," Hernandez told reporters, according to MLB.com. "Obviously things happen in the game. Errors that you make mentally. ... It was a bad moment, I wasn't focused enough. But for a player who has this much time playing baseball, that can't happen again."
The Jays and Twins resume the series at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday in Minneapolis.
