The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1, in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series Monday night.
More news: Dodgers Beat Brewers in NLCS Game 1 Behind All-Time Blake Snell Performance
The top of the fourth inning proved to be the epitome of the NL showdown as the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out against Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester.
Max Muncy hit a 404-shot to center field that could have gone over the wall had Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick not robbed Muncy of what could have been a grand slam. Frelick bobbled the ball, though, and caught it after it bounced off his glove and onto the wall.
Because the ball hit the wall after bouncing off Frelick’s glove, the ball was in play and force plays were available at every base. Thus, Frelick threw to Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz, who made a perfect relay throw to the plate where Teoscar Hernandez was just a second behind.
“It happened fast. I didn’t know he didn’t catch it, to be quite honest,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We go over that rule, Teo knows the rule — I think right there he just had a little bit of a brain fart.”
Brewers catcher William Contreras completed the double play by walking the ball from home plate to third, where Will Smith had not advanced from second which ended the inning.
“It’s very unusual. It’s tough for the base runner to figure out what happened,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “But it’s one of those plays in baseball that we got very fortunate there. Great defense on our guys’ part, for Sal (Frelick) and (William) Contreras to be that heads up, Joey (Ortiz) to make the throw. Yeah, that was big.”
Roberts called for a review of the play, which was ruled an 8-6-2 double play.
“I just wanted clarity — honestly, I didn’t know that they ruled it no catch,” Roberts said. “So I just wanted clarity on the whole situation and then making sure that they got a couple force outs, which they did. And ultimately those guys on the field and replay got it right. They nailed it.”
While that fourth-inning blunder by the Dodgers was certainly a momentum shift, left-hander Blake Snell kept the Milwaukee lineup down for eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts.
LA’s lineup mustered two runs, and that was fortunately enough for the Dodgers to steal home-field advantage in the NLCS.
More news: Dodgers Robbed of Multiple Runs on Controversial Sal Frelick Defensive Play in NLCS Game 1
Photo Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
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