Cooper Ingle forgets there are outs and throws the ball into the stands

Rookie’s Costly Error in Guardians’ Loss

For any rookie, this kind of moment is tough to swallow.

Guardians outfielder Cooper Ingle faced an unfortunate lapse in judgment on Tuesday night in Cleveland. During a 4-2 defeat against the Rangers, Ingle forgot the number of outs and, in a misstep, allowed a run to score for the opposing team.

It was the seventh inning at Progressive Field, and with what he thought was two outs, Ingle executed his usual play on a fly ball hit by Alejandro Osuna—throwing the ball into the stands.

However, there was only one out, and the Rangers took advantage, scoring the go-ahead run as Ezequiel Duran crossed home plate.

Ingle returned to his position, visibly shaken, and faced criticism for the mental mistake during a game where the team ultimately lost.

“I obviously feel terrible,” Ingle shared with reporters post-game. “It’s pretty embarrassing… Honestly, when I threw the ball, I heard a lot of screaming. It happens sometimes, but I’ve got to learn from it and work to avoid making the same mistake again.”

The 24-year-old was making just his second start in the major leagues’ outfield and had only been called up from Triple-A Columbus the previous week, making his debut just days earlier.

On Tuesday, he went hitless in four attempts at bat.

Ingle expressed a desire to move forward from this experience.

“It doesn’t feel good, but there’s a reason these things happen, right? The key is to learn from them and keep improving,” he said.

His manager, Stephen Vogt, echoed a supportive sentiment. “You’re just in your second big league game in the outfield, and you make a mistake like that. Let’s learn from it. It’s over. Let’s move on. We’re not mad at him,” Vogt stated.