When the Washington Nationals took to the field in the top of the ninth inning in their 7-5 slate loss Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies, a tenth man joined them. Well, something like that.
Between entries, a praying mantis climbed on Victor Robles hat. Maybe he knew or maybe no one told him he had a hitchhiker. Either way, the mantis wouldn’t go anywhere:
When Robles sprinted into center field for the ninth, the bug hovered on top of his cap, gaining a sight that many fans would envy. Robles even made sure the mantis, who had moved to the brim of his cap, knew how many outs were in the inning at any given time.
Unfortunately, it may have been a rally mistake … for the wrong team. The Phillies joked that it was their “rally mantis” on Twitter, assuming the outfield error was cheering them up and helping them score five runs in the ninth.
While the bug became the topic of conversation at Nationals Park, it didn’t steal the show like another animal at Yankee Stadium. Baseball Twitter had not only a concentration mantis on Monday, but also an MVP cat, who ran onto the field, stopping the Orioles-Yankees game amid a chorus of “MVP” chants:
The cat was eventually captured and taken out of the field, but the herding mantis lived to see another day. The bug jumped out of Robles’ cap sometime in the ninth and ran away.
When an animal runs onto the field during a game, the first thought is always: “How did it get here?”
It may interest you: Victor Robles is also isolated in Nationals under the Coronavirus protocol
However, for the rally mantis, it looks like it may be the newest generation of mantis from Natinals Park. In 2018, Erick Fedde made a friend during the national anthem. Who knows, maybe the Robles mantis is the newest in a long line of mantises from the Washington Nationals.
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