SAN FRANCISCO — They are sensitive about hard slides here at AT&T Park, and Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals gave the San Francisco Giants reason to pause Monday night in Game 2 of the NLCS by sliding about as hard as one can into second base.
Holliday's take out slide of Marco Scutaro in the first inning didn't get anybody hurt, just scared, especially after Scutaro lay on a ground for a few moments to collect himself. On video replays, you can see Scutaro's left foot get caught in the dirt beyond second base. It was a good way to injure a knee, but Scutaro got up shortly and hit a single in his at-bat.
Holliday's slide appeared to be legal. He started it just before the second-base bag, touched the bag with his left leg and tackled Scutaro without getting out of the baseline.
Watch this animation from the Fox broadcast, thanks to @cjzero
The slide was effective, helping to prevent the Giants from turning a double play on Allen Craig's grounder to short. But it also was brutal and dangerous — evoking the infamous slide by Scott Cousins that took out Giants catcher Buster Posey and broke his leg in 2011.
Thankfully, the toll wasn't as great.
[Related: Disturbing accident before game will sideline Giants' Roberto Kelly]
Legal is one thing. The umpires didn't penalize Holliday and the Giants didn't appear to complain. But should it be legal to tackle someone on a baseball field? That's a question still left unresolved by Cousins/Posey and every other crash at home plate. Or, sometimes, second base. Football is a great sport, but its tactics don't belong in Major League Baseball.
"It looked like it was pretty late," Giants pitcher Matt Cain told Joe Buck of Fox Sports during an in-game interview. " ... We're just happy Scutaro is all right."
Holliday could be seen talking to Posey before the first pitch of his next at-bat in the top of the third. We'll see later if either reveals what was said. Holliday's at-bat ended with a pop-up. With a runner on second base, it wasn't a good time to retaliate with a purpose pitch.
UPDATE: Do you believe in karma? Scutaro got his revenge by hitting a three-run single to Holliday in left during the fourth inning. Holliday misplayed the hit and was charged with an error that allowed Scutaro to move into second.
Love baseball? Enjoying the postseason?
Follow @AnswerDave, @bigleaguestew, @KevinKaduk on Twitter,
along with the BLS Facebook page!
Related MLB video from Yahoo! Sports:
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• Blown ALCS call reignites MLB replay debate
• NASCAR Power Rankings: Another outstanding week for Jimmie Johnson
• No show: Yankees try to disguise empty seats at ALCS by moving fans
• Y! News: Can a $20 bike really change the world?