Max Muncy was inches away from hitting a grand slam for the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the scoring in the National League Championship Series.
Little did he know his 404-foot drive instead would end the top of the fourth inning Monday night in one of the most incredible plays of this or any postseason.
“It’s definitely the worst fielder’s choice/double play I’ve ever hit in my life,” Muncy said after the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1.
Here’s how Muncy’s potential grand slam turned into an unusual 8-6-2 double play:
With the bases loaded and one out, Muncy hit a long drive to center field, where 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. Muncy wasn’t ruled out because the ball hit the wall, but the Dodgers’ runners scrambled back to their bases thinking the ball was caught on a fly.
“I didn’t see it hit the wall,” said Will Smith, who was on second base. “I just thought he kind of brought it back in and caught it.”
Frelick fired to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who quickly relayed a strike to catcher William Contreras. Aware a force was still in effect, Contreras alertly stretched for the throw with his right foot on home plate, rather than position himself for a tag that would have been necessary if the ball hadn’t hit the wall.
Contreras caught the ball before Teoscar Hernandez slid across the plate, forcing out Hernández after he had hesitated at third base.
“In the moment, I got blocked, I think. There’s not an explanation. I just f—-d that up,” Hernandez said, according to The Athletic. “It’s that simple. … There’s nobody to blame but myself.”
“Teo knows the rule. I think right there he had just a little bit of a brain fart, appreciating that when it does hit the glove, you can tag [up] there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But then he tagged, did it correctly, then saw he didn’t catch it, [and] he went back. That was the mistake. But he owned it. And after that, there’s nothing else you can do about it.”
After the forceout at home plate, Contreras smartly got up and jogged to third to force out Smith, too.
Smith had gone back to second when he thought Frelick made a clean catch.
“From home plate, I had a pretty good view of it,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “I could tell pretty much right away it hit off the wall. Right away, once it hits off the wall, you know that ball is played live. Tremendous job by the guys there just doing what we needed to do to finish that play off.”
As all of it was developing, Frelick had his arms out with a quizzical look on his face, wondering what exactly had just happened – not unlike many fans.
The Dodgers challenged the call, but a replay review confirmed the forceouts at home and third for a most unusual inning-ending 8-6-2 double play.
Umpires called it correctly in real time all the way through the play.
“Honestly, I didn’t know they ruled it a no-catch,” Roberts said. “I just wanted clarity on the whole situation. And then kind of making sure that they got a couple of forceouts, which they did. And ultimately, those guys and replay, the guys on the field got it right. They nailed it.”
At 404 feet, it was the second-longest projected distance on a batted ball resulting in a double play since Statcast tracking began in 2015 – regular-season games included. For Muncy, it goes down as a grounded-into-double play, even though the ball didn’t touch the ground.
There had not been an 8-6-2 double play in the postseason over the last 35 years, the Elias Sports Bureau said. Those types of official scoring details are not always clear in records going back any further.
The most recent 8-6-2 double play in the regular season involved a ball hit by Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa to Cincinnati Reds center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. in April 2004 – though, that one ended with a tag at the plate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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