The Los Angeles Dodgers caught a tough break during the top of the fourth inning of NLCS Game 1 due to a wild double play by the Milwaukee Brewers.
With the bases loaded and one out on the board, third baseman Max Muncy came to the plate, hitting a heater to center field that hit Sal Frelick’s glove, then the wall, and somehow went back into Frelick’s glove before it reached the ground.
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Once the ball hit the wall, it officially became a live ball. The Dodgers’ baserunners were left confused about how it was ruled. It gave the Brewers enough time for Frelick to throw the ball to shortstop and then home on the relay and force Teoscar Hernandez out at home base.
Then, Brewers catcher William Contreas got the ball and stepped on third base, getting another force out at third base and ending the inning on a crazy double play.
Since it was ruled a live ball, the runners needed to advance — and since there were players at each base, they all needed to advance. Since they all returned to their bases and treated it like a fly out, they ended up far too slow.
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Hernandez could have run to home base right away, but he tagged up, and it allowed enough time for the ball to get to Contreras. Since all they needed was a putout, Contreras did not need to apply a tag, and Milwaukee got the out easily.
The Dodgers could have scored at least one run if they had treated the play like it was a hit, but they made the mistake of standing around and waiting.
Lost in the shuffle was that Muncy’s hit was almost a home run, hitting the top of the fence and coming back into play. It was a tough break for the Dodgers, who ended up with nothing after hitting Quinn Priester well.
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