Everybody is talking about wedged ball rule that thwarted a Game 6 Blue Jays comeback
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Toronto Blue Jays were on the verge of the biggest Halloween treat possible but instead were suddenly dealt a horrible trick.
Down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth with a man on first base and nobody out, Addison Barger hammered a high fastball from Roki Sasaki to the left-centre field wall that looked to be adding another chapter to the Blue Jays' stories of comebacks this year.
Barger's double should have scored Straw. Except for one problem.
Barger's double didn't just kiss the left field wall, it got stuck in the bottom of the wall for what seemed like a split second.
The ball apparently lodged in the wall, for long enough for Dodgers' outfielder Justin Dean to raise his arm and alert the umpire that the ball wasn't playable.
Yet from the Blue Jays dugout, where the veteran Isiah Kiner-Falefa was watching, he didn't think the ball properly lodged in the wall..
«It wasn't lodged in the wall,» said Kiner-Falefa. «I saw it. He got lucky they called it his way. You think of a tennis being stuck in a fence. It doesn't move. It just sits there. That's not what happened here. That ball was moving.
«Really, he got the call. But I don't know if he deserved it.»
«Really, he got the call. But I don't know if he deserved it.»
It was all for naught as the MLB rules for a "lodged ball" are an automatic ground-rule double and meant that the hitter and runners involved in the play receive an automatic two bases and no more.
Below is the official language in the MLB rule book regarding dead balls and, in tonight's case, a «stuck» ball.
On the next play the fighting back Blue Jays unfortunately tripped over themselves.
Straw was back on third base. Barger was on second when Andres Gimenez dripped a line drive to left field.
Except the game ended with Barger being doubled off second base after the line drive was caught on the run.
It almost dropped in. Had it not been caught by Kike Hernandez, the Jays would have tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, might have been in position to win the game with George Springer coming to the plate.
Here is what everyone is saying about the 'lodged ball'
John Schneider shares his perspective on the ball that was lodged under the outfield wall in the bottom of the ninth inning.
«Been here a long time. Haven't seen a ball get lodged ever. Put a great swing on that pitch. Didn't bounce our way there.»
Blue Jays centerfielder Daulton Varsho also shared his thoughts on the "lodged ball".
Daulton Varsho said it is «impressive» for a ball to get lodged under the wall in Toronto 😳
Sportsnet's Shi Davidi went to the spot where Addison Barger's double got wedged into the wall.
There's so little give and the padding is so tight to the turf, a ball would have to hit exactly the right spot at the right angle with enough force to get stuck. So unlikely and the timing is crazy.
It's time for Game 7 now. The Blue Jays won two World Series before without playing a seventh game.
This is a different team with a different story to tell and a final chapter still to be written on Saturday night.
One game to decide everything. One game for more magic to happen.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 1 | 449 ANSWERS Everybody is talking about wedged ball rule that thwarted a Game 6 Blue Jays comeback Was the ball stuck under the wall or not? | ||
TRENDING NOW
