These are professional baseball players, the best in the world at what they do, but they also are imperfect human beings. And the most imperfect defensive effort coming Thursday, probably, was infielder Matt Duffy of the Giants breaking the wrong way on a ball hit right at him. Actually breaking any direction was not the right way to go. If Duffy stands still, it's probably an L-4 (line drive to the second baseman).

Watch:

Matt Duffy
D'oh! (MLB)

It's almost appears he was jumping out of the way, like a sportswriter or a fan might. But, no touch, no error in the scorebook. Duffy's mental error was scored a single for Howie Kendrick, who finished off a tough at-bat in the seventh inning against George Kontos by hitting a line drive that landed in right field. The miscue did not hurt the the Giants, who beat the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw 4-0 behind Madison Bumgarner.

Plus, in the long run, it gives us something funny to break the monotony of the regular season. Throwing and fielding errors are so common. Mental mistakes last a lifetime!

Duffy is a valuable part-timer who plays all over the infield for the Giants. He started at second base in order for Joe Panik to get a rest — not an unusual move against a left-handed pitcher. He came in with a 10-game hitting streak, but went 0 for 4 at the plate. It's OK, we'll always have the time he went the wrong way against Howie Kendrick.