The Astros lost a wild back-and-forth game at Dodger Stadium after a balk was called on reliever Ryne Stanek with the score tied and a man on third in the eighth inning.
The call allowed the Dodgers to score the decisive run, beating the Astros 8-7 to take two in a row in the three-game weekend series.
This was a game that had somewhat of a playoff feel between two teams that went seven games in the World Series seven years ago. Even with few players still remaining from that showdown, there is still an energy amongst the fan bases.
Dodgers fans were elated in the eighth inning, when the Astros surrendered a 7-5 lead. It started with Bryan Abreu walking the first three batters to load the bases. Jason Heyward's sacrifice fly cut it to 7-6,
Then James Outman hit one of the most bizarre ground rule doubles you'll ever see. At first it appeared to be a three-run shot to right field to give the Dodgers the lead, but the ball wedged into the fence and was ruled a double instead.
That's when Astros manager Dusty Baker brought in Stanek for Abreu, to stop the bleeding in a tie ballgame. Stanek struck out David Peralta, who had homered off Phil Maton earlier in the game.
But with a man on third and Miguel Rojas batting, Stanek was called for a balk after twitching his leg and then stepping off the mound. The second base umpire Junior Valentine determined Stanek was already set and in his motion when he stepped off the mound.
“I don't think I've been called for a balk maybe ever, like college, Minor Leagues, ever,” Stanek said, via MLB.com. “So yeah, I thought that was pretty wild to have that happen.”
Stanek pitched out of the inning with no more damage, but berated Valentine as he left the mound. Both Stanek and Baker were ejected.
“[Valentine] said I moved my knee, which, I mean, as you're standing, you have to move your knee to step off the rubber,” Stanek continued. “So I thought that was an interesting reason to give, especially in a situation like that where the balk is intentionally trying to deceive a runner -- which, at what point was I trying to deceive a runner? I hadn't even come set yet. I was literally not even in that process of coming set. I literally was just stepping backwards. So yeah, I just don't see how you can make that a call right there."
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