MILWAUKEE (AP) — Max Muncy was inches away from hitting a grand slam for the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the scoring in the National League Championship Series.
Little did he know his 404-foot drive would end early in the fourth inning Monday night in one of the most amazing games of this or any playoff series.
“That was definitely the worst fielder/double play call I’ve ever made in my life,” Muncy said afterward. Dodgers win 2-1 over Milwaukee Brewers in game 1.
Here’s how Muncy’s potential grand slam turned into an unusual 8-6-2 double play:
With the bases loaded and one out, Muncy took a long drive to center field, where Sal Frelick jumped and reached for the wall in an attempt to catch the ball.
The ball came out of Frelick’s glove and hit the top of the fence before Frelick caught it out of the air. Muncy wasn’t thrown out because the ball hit the wall — but the Dodgers runners returned to their bases thinking the ball had been caught on a fly.
“I didn’t see him hit the wall,” said Will Smith, who was at second base. “I just thought he kind of brought it back and caught it.”
Frelick pulled to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who quickly relayed a strike to catcher William Contreras. Aware that a force was still in effect, Contreras stretched alertly to throw it with his right foot at home plate, rather than positioning himself for a tag that would have been necessary had the ball not hit the wall.
Contreras caught the ball before Teoscar Hernández slid across home plate, forcing Hernández out after hesitating at third base.
“Teo knows the rule. I think at that point he had a little brain fart, appreciating that when it hits the glove, you can score it up there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But then he scored, did it correctly, and then saw he didn’t catch it, (and) he came back. That was the mistake. But he owned it. And after that, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
After the force out at the plate, Contreras smartly got up and ran to third to throw out Smith as well.
Smith was back in second when he thought Frelick had made a clean catch.
“From home plate I had a pretty good view,” Contreras said through a translator. “I could tell right away he hit the wall. As soon as he hit the wall, you know the ball is played live. Great job by the guys out there, just doing what we needed to do to finish this game.”
As all this developed, Frelick had his arms outstretched with a quizzical look on his face, wondering what exactly had just happened – much like many fans.
The Dodgers contested the call, but a replay review upheld the forced outs at home and third for a most unusual 8-6-2 double play in the bottom of the inning.
The referees called it correctly in real time throughout the game.
“I honestly didn’t know they decided it was a no-win,” Roberts said. “I just wanted to get clarity on the whole situation. And then make sure they got some force outs, which they did. And ultimately, those guys and the repetition, the guys on the field got it right. They got it done.”
At 404 feet, it was the second-longest distance projected on a batted ball resulting in a double play since Statcast tracking began in 2015 – regular season games included.
There hasn’t been an 8-6-2 double play in the postseason in the last 35 years, the Elias athletic office said. These types of official notation details are not always clear in records going back further.
The most recent 8-6-2 double play in the regular season involved a ball hit by Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa to Cincinnati center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. in April 2004 – although that one ended in a tag at home plate.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
