Tom Candiotti’s ‘He’s just befuddled right now’ radio line after Lance Lynn’s fourth surrendered HR was perfect

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ 4-2 Game 3 win to clinch their National League Division Series clash with the Los Angeles Dodgers came thanks to something remarkable. All of their runs came on solo home runs in the fourth inning off Dodgers’ starter Lance Lynn, with those four home runs in that inning a postseason record. And those led to notable calls from the Diamondbacks’ radio team of Greg Schulte and Tom Candiotti:

That’s mostly Schulte’s play-by-play calls, and it’s notable how they get more and more incredulous. The third one includes “That ball might go! That ball’s gone! How ’bout this inning? Home run out, home run out, home run, 3-0 Diamondbacks,” and the fourth includes “And a shot to left-center field! There she goes! Are you kidding me?! Gaby Moreno hits it out anyway and it’s 4-0 Diamondbacks!” (The “hits it out anyway” is because on the previous pitch, Moreno hit one over the right-field wall that was initially called fair on the field, then reversed to foul on review.) But what’s perhaps really notable is when this turns to discussion of Lynn.

Schulte says “And Lance Lynn is just kind of staring out at center field. Have you ever seen that, Candy?” Candiotti, who spent 16 years in MLB as a knuckleball pitcher, then laughs and says “I have never. He’s just befuddled right now.” And “befuddled” is about the perfect description for that unprecedented historical moment.

The 36-year-old Lynn, acquired by the Dodgers along with Joe Kelly in a July trade with the Chicago White Sox, was far from the most-desired starter Los Angeles might have run out there for a crucial game. He posted a 5.73 ERA, a 1.394 WHIP, 9,4 strikeouts per nine innings, a -0.8 WAR (by Baseball-Reference’s calculation), and a 77 ERA+ across the 2023 regular season as a whole, and while he was better in 11 starts for the Dodgers (a 4.36 ERA, a 1.266 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, a 0.3 WAR and a 100 ERA+), that still wasn’t great.

But the incredible amounts of starting pitching injuries Los Angeles suffered this year meant they didn’t have many options. And Lynn started this game well, retiring the side in order in the first inning, getting out of the second inning scoreless despite allowing two singles, and even getting two third-inning outs before the final two home runs (which led to him being pulled). But that led to this remarkable situation, and to this call from Sculte and Candiotti.

[Xin Varlock on Twitter]