John Kruk suffers crushing announcer jinx in Phillies’ loss

John Kruk slugged four grand slams during his career, but Monday night, he got a taste of what it feels like to give one up.

The Phillies began a three game set with the Cincinnati Reds Monday night where they took a tie score into the 10th inning. And with the bases loaded and no outs in the top half of the inning, Cincinnati’s left fielder Spencer Steer stepped to the plate.

Obviously, the Phillies couldn’t afford to give up a grand slam in that spot and there was no need to say it out loud. But Kruk laughed in the face of announcer jinxes and went there anyway on the NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus broadcast.

“No grand slams for Spencer Steer, let’s hope that continues”

Two pitches later… pic.twitter.com/EODCjxFFIa

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 2, 2024

“No grand slams for Spencer Steer, let’s hope that continues,” Kruk said to play-by-play voice Tom McCarthy as the 26-year-old settled into the batter’s box. Oh no he didn’t! And almost on cue, Steer drove the ball over the left field fence at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park to the tune of a sigh of disappointment from Kruk.

The pitch may have been delivered by Phillies reliever Connor Brogdon, but the grand slam should be attributed to Kruk for the jinx. Cincinnati took a 6-2 lead on the Steer’s homer and won the game after 10 with a final score of 6-3. More importantly, MLB announcers can no longer say “No grand slams for Spencer Steer.”

[NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus]