Ken Giles punched himself in the face after giving up a homer to Gary Sanchez

Staff writer

Wed, May 2, 2018, 4:59 PM

If you’ve ever wanted to see someone literally punch themselves in the face, this is your lucky day. Houston Astros closer Ken Giles was so frustrated after giving up a three-run homer to Gary Sanchez that he clocked himself in the cheek on his way back to the dugout.

It happened in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s game between the Astros and the New York Yankees. The game was tied 0-0 in the top of the inning, but Giles got himself into trouble right away. He allowed a lead-off single to Aaron Judge, and then Didi Gregorious doubled. After a visit from the pitching coach, Giles struck out Giancarlo Stanton, and it looked like he might be out of danger.

But he wasn’t. After another mound visit, the first pitch Giles hurled to Gary Sanchez was sent deep into center field of Minute Maid Park. It knocked off the back wall and was gone for a three-run homer. Giles allowed another single after that, and then the Astros pulled him. On his way back to the dugout, Giles took out his anger on himself by actually, seriously punching himself in the face.

'Cause you had a bad day pic.twitter.com/5xHNe9JULh
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 2, 2018

Closers are intense. Giles’ job is to get opposing batters out, typically in the ninth inning, and he failed. The Astros lost 4-0. But maybe Giles should take a page out of David Ortiz’s book of expressing baseball-related anger. Next time, instead of punching himself in the face,