Konnor Griffin of the Pirates has an eventful game with a crazy throw and a triple

Connor Griffin’s Eventful Day on the Field

Welcome to the Connor Griffin experience.

The Pirates’ promising 19-year-old shortstop had quite a game against the Nationals on Thursday, which ended in an 8-7 loss. In the fifth inning, he made a blooper that nearly cost his team a double play but quickly bounced back to tie the game.

With one out in the fifth, Griffin hit a weak grounder to first baseman Luis Garcia Jr., then stepped on second base. Unfortunately, his throw to first base lost momentum and rolled into right field, allowing all three runners to score.

The umpires called runner Nasim Nunez safe at second, despite a hard slide that impacted Griffin’s throw. The Pirates challenged the decision, but it was officially marked as a throwing error.

The Nationals would go on to add another run later in the inning after Braxton Ashcraft, starting pitcher for the Pirates, had a throwing error of his own.

Pittsburgh had managed to tie the score earlier in the fourth but fell behind 5-4 again in the sixth inning when Griffin redeemed himself.

In the sixth inning, Griffin launched a ball to center field that almost gave him his first career home run but instead resulted in a game-tying RBI triple.

He also racked up another hit in the 10th inning, although it was a weak ground ball towards the third base line and the Pirates didn’t manage to tie the game.

This whirlwind performance is reflective of Griffin’s early weeks in the majors.

Before Thursday’s game, his stats were a bit shaky: .189/.279/.243 with five RBIs and 12 strikeouts over 37 at-bats.

Despite starting off strong with a double in his MLB debut, he had only six hits over the subsequent 11 games.

Ranked as baseball’s top prospect by MLB Pipeline entering 2026, Griffin was promoted to the majors in early April after an impressive showing in Triple-A with a .438/.571/.625 line in just five games.

A notable figure in the 2024 draft as the No. 9 overall pick, he boasted numbers of .333/.415/.527, hitting 21 home runs, driving in 94 RBIs, and stealing 65 bases across 122 games in his first professional season.