Brewers manager Pat Murphy credited the team’s legendary late broadcaster Bob Uecker for an unlikely boost in the ninth inning to help preserve a 3-2 victory over visiting San Diego in the opener of their playoff series on Saturday.
With one out in the ninth and the Brewers clinging to a one-run lead, San Diego had a runner on first when Ty France hit a drive to left field off closer Trevor Megill. But the ball struck a roof cable, stayed in play and was caught by Jackson Chourio for the second out. Megill then retired Jackson Merrill on a fly ball to right field to give Milwaukee the victory.
“I think the only thing that you could probably figure on the ball that everybody’s going to be talking about is that [Uecker] decided to put his hand on it and swat it down so Chourio could catch it,” Murphy said. “So thanks, Ueck.”
Uecker, who was the radio voice of the Brewers for more than 50 years, died last year at the age of 90.
The ground rules for Milwaukee’s American Family Field say that a batted ball that strikes the roof, roof truss, roof cable or any cabling over fair territory is in play. If caught by a fielder, the batter is out. If the ball strikes any of those same structures over foul territory, it’s a dead ball. A third rule says if the ball strikes those structures over fair territory and lands foul, it’s a foul ball.
The Padres challenged whether the ball was fair or foul, but the on-field call that it was an out was upheld.
Padres manager Craig Stammen thought the ball would have been a home run if it had not hit the cable, while Murphy believes it would have gone foul.
“We joked about it at the umpire meeting today about what would happen if the ball hit the roof,” Stammen said after the game. “And it was unlikely, but it happened. The rule is if they deemed the ball to be fair and it comes down you can catch it. If it hits off the roof foul, then it’s a foul ball. So they ruled that it hit the roof fair and the outfielder caught it.
“Unfortunately, a bad break for us. Looked like it was a possible home run. Just didn’t go our way. Second time that’s happened this year to the Padres.”
Murphy said from his vantage point, the ball wouldn’t have stayed fair for a homer.
“It was going to be a foul ball for sure,” Murphy said. “I’m standing right on that line, a hitter that talented.”
Chourio, who hit a game-tying, two-run homer earlier in the game, said he was just trying to make sure he made the play.
“I wasn’t all that sure of what the rule was, and I wasn’t really all that sure that it actually did hit anything,” Chourio said. “I thought I had a chance on that ball kind of the whole time off the bat. Then the only thing I kind of realized, it changed direction a little bit, but I thought I had a bead on it for the majority of the time.”
Remarkably, it also wasn’t the first time this season the Padres lost a potential home run to a stadium’s unique ground rules.
In August, Xander Bogaerts’s drive struck the catwalk at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field and was caught by Rays third baseman Junior Caminero. Bogaerts’s drive had been projected by Statcast to go 386ft.
“You would think with all the technology and data and everything we have now, we’d be able to make a clear call on that,” France said. “I don’t know if that’s ever been done before, but yeah, there should be something put in place right there. That shouldn’t be an out.”
In Saturday’s other division series openers, the Rays shut out the Yankees for a 1-0 win, the Dodgers overcame the Braves 5-3 and the White Sox beat the Guardians 3-0.
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