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 instead would end the top of the fourth inning Monday night in one of the most incredible plays of this or any postseason.
“It’s definitely the worst fielder’s choice/double play I’ve ever hit in my life,” Muncy said after the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over the 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 hit a long drive to center field, where Sal Frelick jumped and reached over the wall in an attempt to make the catch.
The ball popped out of Frelick’s glove and hit the top of the fence before Frelick caught it in the air. Muncy wasn’t ruled out because the ball hit the wall, but the Dodgers’ runners scrambled back to their bases thinking the ball was caught on a fly.
“I didn’t see it hit the wall,” said Will Smith, who was on second base. “I just thought he kind of brought it back in and caught it.”
Frelick fired to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who quickly relayed a strike to catcher William Contreras. Aware a force was still in effect, Contreras alertly stretched for the throw with his right foot on home plate, rather than position himself for a tag that would have been necessary if the ball hadn’t hit the wall.
Contreras caught the ball before Teoscar Hernandez slid across the plate, forcing out Hernández after he had hesitated at third base.
“In the moment, I got blocked, I think. There’s not an explanation. I just f—-d that up,” Hernandez said, according to The Athletic. “It’s that simple. … There’s nobody to blame but myself.”
“Teo knows the rule. I think right there he had just a little bit of a brain fart, appreciating that when it does hit the glove, you can tag [up] there,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned. “However then he tagged, did it accurately, then noticed he didn’t catch it, [and] he went again. That was the error. However he owned it. And after that, there’s nothing else you are able to do about it.”
After the forceout at house plate, Contreras well obtained up and jogged to 3rd to pressure out Smith, too.
Smith had gone again to second when he thought Frelick made a clear catch.
“From house plate, I had a fairly good view of it,” Contreras mentioned by way of an interpreter. “I might inform just about instantly it hit off the wall. Immediately, as soon as it hits off the wall, you realize that ball is performed reside. Super job by the fellows there simply doing what we wanted to do to complete that play off.”
As all of it was growing, Frelick had his arms out with a quizzical look on his face, questioning what precisely had simply occurred – not not like many followers.
The Dodgers challenged the decision, however a replay evaluation confirmed the forceouts at house and third for a most uncommon inning-ending 8-6-2 double play.
Umpires referred to as it accurately in actual time right through the play.
“Truthfully, I did not know they dominated it a no-catch,” Roberts mentioned. “I simply wished readability on the entire scenario. After which sort of ensuring that they obtained a few forceouts, which they did. And finally, these guys and replay, the fellows on the sphere obtained it proper. They nailed it.”
At 404 ft, it was the second-longest projected distance on a batted ball leading to a double play since Statcast monitoring started in 2015 – regular-season video games included. For Muncy, it goes down as a grounded-into-double play, although the ball did not contact the bottom.
There had not been an 8-6-2 double play within the postseason over the past 35 years, the Elias Sports activities Bureau mentioned. These kinds of official scoring particulars aren’t at all times clear in information going again any additional.
The newest 8-6-2 double play within the common season concerned a ball hit by Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa to Cincinnati Reds heart fielder Ken Griffey Jr. in April 2004 – although, that one ended with a tag on the plate.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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