A close game on Monday between the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox had a bizarre moment when the ball girl fielded a fair ball from Houston designated hitter Evan Gattis.
OH NO pic.twitter.com/mpEo9eq1Ur
— SI MLB (@si_mlb) October 9, 2017
As is the rule with interference plays, the umpires get to decide where any runners are placed on the bases. In this case, that is where some controversy arose.
Gattis, who is not a speedy runner, was placed at first base. This was despite the fact that he continued to run and actually reached second safely. Of course, Boston’s counter is that third baseman Rafael Devers stopped moving towards the ball after the interference and had a noticeable pause in throwing it in once he did pick it up.
Truthfully, the right call was probably made.
As things played out, Gattis was only barely safe at second. Without Devers’ noticeable pauses, he would have gotten the ball into the infield earlier and in reality, Gattis likely wouldn’t have even attempted to reach second.
Gattis was pinch run for by Cameron Maybin, who eventually came around to score on a single from Josh Reddick.