Max Muncy came within inches of hitting a grand slam for the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the scoring in the National League Championship Series. Instead, the Milwaukee Brewers turned it into one of the most incredible double plays in postseason history.
With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning Monday night, Muncy hit a long drive to center field. 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.Â
Muncy was not out because the ball hit the wall, but the Dodgers’ runners scrambled back to their bases thinking the ball was caught on the fly.
Frelick threw to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who fired a strike that catcher William Contreras caught before Teoscar Hernández slid across the plate, forcing the runner out. Contreras then got up and jogged to third to force out Will Smith.
Smith had gone back to second when he thought Frelick made a clean catch.
Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick was central to an all-time historic baseball play on MondayÂ
Max Muncy of the Los Angeles Dodgers thought that he had hit a grand slam for his team
As all this was developing, Frelick had his arms out with a quizzical look on his face, seemingly wondering what had just happened.
The Dodgers challenged the call, but a replay review confirmed the forceouts at home and third for a most unusual inning-ending double play.
It sent fans wild on social media, with the moment upstaging the two NFL games that were being held at the same time on Monday night.Â
‘The Milwaukee Brewers just turned a ball hit off the wall into a double play with force outs at home plate and third base. This has to be the greatest such double play I’ve ever seen,’ wrote baseball reporter Jack Vita on X.
‘Not joking, no exaggeration this is the craziest defensive play in baseball history,’ another fan wrote while sharing the clip.
‘One of the greatest plays in baseball history , took away a grand slam and got an inning ending double play,’ a different fan posted.
Unfortunately for the Brewers thought, the moment ended up being in vain, with the Dodgers eventually carving out a narrow 2-1 win. The Dodgers wobbled in the ninth when rookie Roki Sasaki replaced Blake Snell.
The Japanese star needed replacing by Blake Treinen, who eventually struck out Brice Turang with the bases loaded to end the game
Frelick explained after the game that he wasn’t sure the ball had hit the wall when he grabbed it
The Dodgers still won the game 2-1 but wobbled at the bottom of the ninth vs the Brewers
But Frelick’s save was still the big talking point after the game.
‘I figured it was close to the wall and I wanted to give myself a play at it,’ he said after the game.
‘The ball kind of tipped off my glove and i saw it floating there so I grabbed it and fired it off.
‘ I didn’t really know what happened, I didn’t know it had hit the wall at the time. Weird one.’
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MLB fans hail ‘greatest play in baseball HISTORY’ after Dodgers thought they hit grand slam in Brewers game