Jenny Cavnar of NBC Sports California might go down in history for this wild jinx during the A’s-Rays game on Thursday.
With elite closer Mason Miller on the mound protecting a one-run lead in the ninth, Cavnar quipped with Rays outfielder Jose Siri at the plate: “Hey, Siri, it’s not your night.
“Feeling Mason Miller might have some payback in his back pocket for what Siri did to the A’s yesterday,” Cavnar said in reference to Siri’s walk-off single Wednesday.
Seconds later, Siri delivered a no-doubt home run to left field tie the game at 4, crushing a middle-in fastball for his second long ball of the game.
The Rays outfielder stood tall from the batter’s box, celebrating as he watched the ball sail over the wall as the lights flickered on and off in celebration.
“(The) 0-1 and that’s launched towards left field, and the payback comes off the bat of Jose Siri,” Cavnar said in a monotone voice, showing little emotion about the bizarre jinx that occurred between pitches. “Tied up the game with another homer.”
We’ve seen jinxes in the past, notably when in the NFL involving field goal kicks or extra points where an announcer mentions that a kicker hadn’t missed in a long time before inevitably missing immediately after.
This is a bit of a different level of jinx considering Siri is hitting below the Mendoza Line and Miller has been virtually untouchable this season.
Despite entering the series batting just .168, Siri crushed the Athletics in the two games he played against them, going 4-for-8 with two home runs and three RBIs.
The Rays ultimately won, 6-5, in 10 innings to take two of three from the Athletics.
Cavnar made history earlier this year when she became the first woman in MLB history to serve as a team’s primary play-by-play announcer, after serving a backup Rockies broadcaster.
On May 13, Cavnar and Astros announcer Julia Morales became the first women to each do play-by-play in the same game for their respective networks.
Fans have lambasted Cavnar at times, most recently when she was torched for her unexciting tone when Abraham Toro drove in the game-tying run against the Orioles in the eighth inning on April 27.