An elusive squirrel won fans in a third straight loss for the host Detroit Tigers on Monday.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the shifty varmint appeared on the diamond at Comerica Park, repeatedly escaping the clutches of the grounds crew and even a glove swipe by Baltimore Orioles outfielder Leody Taveras.
Tigers announcer Jason Benetti summed up the man vs. beast battle with a dramatic play-by-play:
“And the squirrel is free once again. Hemmed in? ‘No, I won’t be hemmed in! I have freedom on my mind!’ Trying to go between the legs and eventually he gets away again and hops through the towel and hops through another towel. The force field is activated! Towels can’t stop him! Or maybe they can.”
A grounds crew member had finally caught the critter with a towel ― and got booed for it.
Then home plate umpire Bill Miller got involved. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “I’d like to thank the grounds crew. Let’s give them a round of applause.”
The broadcast booth lost it at that point..
Tigers mascot Paws later put up a sign that read, “Free the Squirrel.”
The team apparently listened.
“Our understanding is that the squirrel was in fine health after being removed from the field and released,” a spokesperson told HuffPost on Tuesday.
