The Los Angeles Dodgers took down the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1, on Monday night in an exciting Game 1 of the NLCS, but as was expected for a powerhouse matchup, it wasn’t without some uncanny moments.
In what was a scoreless game going into the fourth inning, the Dodgers had bases loaded with one out and third baseman Max Muncy at the plate.
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Muncy unleashed a 404-foot ball to centerfield that looked as if it was about to put the Dodgers up by four runs.
Center fielder Sal Frelick had other plans, attempting to make a play to rob the slugger, but it wasn’t in the conventional way. The ball bounced from Frelick’s glove to the wall and back into his glove as he then got the ball back into the infield.
Teoscar Hernández, who was waiting at third base to tag up, seemed to be confused by Frelick bobbling the ball at the outfield wall, and didn’t get home in time. Since Frelick didn’t cleanly catch the ball, it was considered live, meaning that it was a force play at any base and catcher William Contreras didn’t need to tag Hernández.
Unfortunately for LA, the play wasn’t over yet, as Contreras ran over to third base to complete an 8-6-2 double play to end the inning.
Read more: Dodgers Robbed of Multiple Runs on Controversial Sal Frelick Defensive Play in NLCS Game 1
Brewers manager Pat Murphy spoke after the game on the outfield oddity.
“It’s very unusual. It’s tough for the base runner to figure out what happened,” Murphy said. “But it’s one of those plays in baseball that we got very fortunate there. Great defense on our guys’ part, for Sal (Frelick) and (William) Contreras to be that heads up, Joey (Ortiz) to make the throw. Yeah, that was big.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke on what transpired as well.
“It happened fast. I didn’t know he didn’t catch it, to be quite honest,” Roberts said. “We go over that rule, Teo knows the rule — I think right there he just had a little bit of a brain fart.”
Roberts also noted that when he went to talk to the umpire after the play, he was looking for answers.
“I just wanted clarity — honestly, I didn’t know that they ruled it no catch. So I just wanted clarity on the whole situation and then making sure that they got a couple force outs, which they did. And ultimately those guys on the field and replay got it right. They nailed it.”
The Dodgers eventually escaped with the win, after nearly losing a two-run lead in the ninth inning after eight dominant innings by southpaw Blake Snell.
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