Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins vs. Milwaukee Brewers series always brings some entertainment. However, the first game of their three-game series at Target Field, which the Brewers won 3-2, came down to one odd call by the umpiring crew in the top of the 8th.
The Brewers had the top of their lineup up against Andrew Morris at the top of the eighth. Jackson Chourio drew a walk and advanced from first to third on a Brice Turang single that dragged out for eight pitches. William Contreras then came up and hit a 1-1 sweeper on a bounce to Brooks Lee at shortstop, who threw it over to Lewis at third as he tried to tag out Chourio.
Chourio was called out at first. However, after the umpires conferred to evaluate the play, they ruled Lewis had obstructed Chourio on the basepaths. The umpiring crew said Lewis’s foot was obstructing Chourio’s path as he retreated to third on the slide, and awarded the Brewers a free run due to where Lewis was standing.
Crew chief Jordan Baker called Twins manager Derek Shelton over to explain their ruling, but Shelton didn’t find his explanation acceptable. Shelton got his money’s worth and was ejected for the third time in 45 games with the Twins this year.
“It was a great baseball play by (Brooks Lee),” said Shelton. “It was a great baseball play by Royce. And because of it, we end up on the other side of it, because of the way the rule reads.”
“We ran a great play,” said Lewis. “It happened so fast. It was one of those, it’s like clearly I didn’t have intent to block the bag. I didn’t even know where I was. I was just looking to catch the ball from Brooks and make a play, and it was an unfortunate call.”
As the rule in call 6.01(h)(2) reads:
“If a play is being made on the obstructed runner, or if the batter-runner is obstructed before he touches first base, the ball is dead and all runners shall advance, without liability to be put out, to the bases they would have reached, in the umpire’s judgment, if there had been no obstruction. The obstructed runner shall be awarded at least one base beyond the base he had last legally touched before the obstruction.”
Lewis can’t be in the base runner’s path as he’s sliding back into the bag, similar to how catchers cannot block all of home plate when a runner is coming in to score. Because the play was a bang-bang reaction from Lee to Lewis, it confused many players on the field and both teams’ managers about why the umpires didn’t immediately make the call and why they deliberated.
“If you’re going to call it, I think you have to call it immediately,” said Shelton. “You don’t get together and ask three other umpires that aren’t close to it. So we had an out call there. And, again, in defense of Jordan Baker, who’s a good umpire, he’s standing behind the play and the fact that they got together and changed it, if you felt that strongly about it, call it right away.”
“I mean, they’re doing the best they can trying to make the game fair,” Twins starter Joe Ryan said. “I felt they did a pretty good job of that today, regardless. Then you get a play like that was confusing. Yeah, just doesn’t make sense to me. Baseball-wise, I don’t think the fans like that.”
The more frustrating part for the Twins was that it was a non-reviewable play because of the obstruction call. So just as everyone in the stadium thought Lewis made a game-saving tag with no outs in the eighth, it turned into Milwaukee’s tying run.
“It sucks, but I guess it’s an umpire’s discretion,” Lee said. “There’s nothing we can really do about it. It felt like Royce was backpedaling a little bit to get to the base. I felt like there’s nothing else he could do. Would have been great if they called him out.”
“Because you can’t review it, you know?” said Shelton. “I think that’s the biggest thing. And again, in defense of Jordan Baker, he’s standing behind him. And he can’t see that. So that’s why it should be a reviewable play, in my opinion.”
Even with the game coming down to just one play in the eighth, Ryan still provided another quality start for the team to keep themselves within striking distance. In his second start since exiting a game early due to elbow soreness, Ryan threw six innings of one-run ball, giving up just four hits, a walk, and striking out seven.
With his early exit on May 3 still being fresh in everyone’s memories, the results from Ryan against the Brewers were an encouraging sign for him and everyone else in the Twins clubhouse.
“It was just good to feel that consistency,” said Ryan. “I got a little out of whack in the first two innings. I was able to make a couple of adjustments inside and felt better after that.”
Even with the results of the obstruction call causing plenty of confusion throughout the ballpark. It was an encouraging defensive play by Lee and Lewis that shows their growth from where they were at the start of the year. But the results of the call will still linger over the team, as it’s a rare oddity in ways teams can lose a baseball game.
“That’s a rare play that [probably] won’t happen again probably this year,” said Lewis. “If it does, it’s like one in the next 120 games we have, so just a freak play that unfortunately didn’t go our way,”
“Now we’re not in a tie game, and maybe pitches are a little bit different, too, if you get that out,” said Ryan.
“It’s a heads-up baseball play by Brooks, making a good play and making a good throw. Royce makes a good tag. Altogether, a really good play that people want to see, and good for the team, and to just have that result, it feels like it got taken away from you for no reason. Hopefully, they can come to some decision there. Yeah, it doesn’t make sense.”
