A near home run in NLCS Game 1 causes chaos on the base paths

MILWAUKEE — Sal Frelick stood at center field, eyes wide, arms outstretched and hat still on the ground, looking as momentarily confused as anyone inside American Family Field or those watching Game 1 of the National League Championship Series from home. The Brewers center fielder made a near catch and chaos ensued.

In the fourth inning against the Dodgers, Frelick threw an improbable double play – one with quick thinking from catcher William Contreras – that took a few minutes to settle. When all was said and done, the Milwaukee crowd roared after the announcement that the play ended what had the makings of a rally for Los Angeles.

With the bases loaded and one out, Max Muncy launched a 1-0 cutter from Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester to deep center field. Frelick sprinted back and to his right, chasing the ball and trying to catch it. The ball hit the outfielder’s glove, but bounced and hit the yellow top of the padded wall.

Left field umpire Chad Fairchild immediately signaled that he was safe, meaning he acknowledged that no outs had been recorded on the play. At the same time, Frelick caught the ball in the deflection off the wall and threw it to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who relayed it to Contreras at the plate.

Teoscar Hernández, who was at third base during the play, initially scored and went home, but then stuttered and retreated to the bag before continuing toward home plate. That hesitation caused him to arrive a moment too late, as Contreras caught the ball and headed home for the second out of the inning.

Will Smith (at second) and Tommy Edman (at first base) each began to advance before also retreating back to their original bases. Muncy, meanwhile, crossed to first base – seemingly unsure if he had made a hit or if Frelick had completed the catch. Recognizing the confusion on the base paths, Contreras moved up the third base line and walked that base to force Smith out to end the inning.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came out of the dugout to get clarification on what happened, and the umpiring crew met to discuss the order of events. But Fairchild’s initial call made it clear that they understood that Frelick had not succeeded. And instead of a hit, Muncy had pulled off a bizarre 8-6-2 double murder.

Nonetheless, the Dodgers officially challenged the force plays at home and third base, just to make sure everything was correct. After reviewing all relevant angles of the game, on-field decisions were upheld.

Adding to the strangeness of the play, the deep fly — one with an exit velocity of 104 mph that nearly left ballpark — was deemed a “groundout” chosen by a defensive player. Due to two runners being thrown out of the game, that was the rating for this ball in play. It would be a home run at Dodger Stadium, as well as eight other stadiums, according to Statcast. And the projected distance of 404 feet marked the second-longest for any ball in play resulting in a double play in Statcast history (since 2015).