There’s three outs per half-inning in baseball, except when there’s not, and not getting the fourth out costs you a run that might be the difference in a one-run game.
That’s exactly what happened to the Nationals on Wednesday, as their four-hour, one-run loss to the Pirates was ostensibly decided by a “fourth out” play.
How is there a fourth out, you ask? Well, here’s how it happened: the Pirates had second and third with one out in the fourth when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a liner to first base. Josh Bell caught it and threw to third base, where Ehire Adrianza grabbed the ball and tagged Hoy Park (running from second) and then stepped on the bag.
The latter would seem unnecessary (or so thought) to erase Jack Suwinski, who had run on contact (along with Park) and never tagged back up, but with Park standing on third base when Adrianza tagged him, it got weird: Suwinski had crossed the plate before Adrianza tagged Park, so while it was assumed there were three outs, because it was a tag play and not a force, the run “counted” because Adrianza tagged Park first (had he stepped on the bag first, Suwinski would’ve been doubled off).
Check out the insanity yourself:
And so, because the Nationals did not appeal at third (appealing Suwinski leaving early) before leaving the field, the officiating crew ruled the run counted, citing Rule 5.09(c)(4) regarding appeal plays:
"Any appeal under this rule must be made before the next pitch, or any play or attempted play. If the violation occurs during a play which ends a half-inning, the appeal must be made before the defensive team leaves the field. An appeal is not to be interpreted as a play or an attempted play. Successive appeals may not be made on a runner at the same base.
Appeal plays may require an umpire to recognize an apparent 'fourth out.' If the third out is made during a play in which an appeal play is sustained on another runner, the appeal play decision takes precedence in determining the out. If there is more than one appeal during a play that ends a half-inning, the defense may elect to take the out that gives it the advantage.
For the purpose of this rule, the defensive team has 'left the field' when the pitcher and all infielders have left fair territory on their way to the bench or Clubhouse."
There was a delay of several minutes as the umpires and managers debated the play, as Pirates manager Derek Shelton apparently wanted to try to challenge that Bell had made the catch on the fly, and, well…we’re still not sure what happened, other than the Pirates stole a run.
“This is the first time I’ve been on the field for something like this,” crew chief Mark Wegner told pool reporter Barry Svrluga, after the game. “(Shelton) originally came out saying that the ball wasn’t caught. So we got together to make sure that we had a catch by the first baseman. Then after that, we made sure that everybody knew what we had, and we had three outs and the run scoring. The defensive team could appeal for a fourth out, that’s what it’s called, that the runner from third didn’t tag up. But they have to do that. But the pitcher and the infielders already crossed the foul line, so now they can’t even appeal for the fourth out. So that was that situation.”
Wegner then further tried to explain the wackiness.
“This is another important part – it’s a crazy play, but it was ruled correctly – but any time there’s an appeal, the player, the fielder, has to be doing it for the obvious intent of appealing,” Wegner said. “In the play that happened, when the third baseman tagged the runner, the third base umpire pointed and said, ‘He’s out. The runner’s out for the third out.’ Now at that point, if the third baseman wants to say, ‘I want to appeal that the guy that just scored from third left early,’ then we can call what’s called the ‘fourth out,’ and then he can step on the base for that. But it has to be an intentional-type thing.”
Per Wegner, the tag made it a “timed play,” so the run counted – but had Adrianza stepped on third before tagging Park, they would have had three outs, or maybe four, but definitely one less run, because stepping on third is the implied appeal of that runner leaving early (which, rather clearly, happened).
Davey Martinez’s thoughts?
“I felt like we did everything right,” he said. “They said he didn’t touch the base…we’ll let the league handle that mess. It’s getting a little bit annoying, honestly. All of a sudden they never see anything.”
A win fit for a team named the Pirates, apparently, although Davey didn’t go that far.
“I’m not blaming that we lost the game because of that one play, obviously,” Martinez said, “but it’s a big run in a one-run game.”
