In what was one of the most entertaining and craziest games of the year, of course it made sense that it would end with some controversy.
With Jayson Werth at first and no outs in the top of the ninth, Daniel Murphy hit a shot to Asdrubal Cabrera that he made a stellar play on and quickly flipped to Neil Walker.
Werth for the second time of the night attempted to test the Chase Utley rule, barreling into Walker on a late slide. Second-base umpire, Jim Joyce quickly called both Werth and Murphy out due to the slide even though Murphy was safe by a stride.
The Nationals would go on to challenge the play, but after review it confirmed the call, as both runners were called out, paving the way for another Mets victory.
Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling of the SNY broadcast could be heard throughout the night on how calls such as this are detrimental to the game, ruining the hard-nosed fun that it once had.
“It’s a clean play but not a legal play…because of the geniuses,” Hernandez said.
Washington manager, Dusty Baker had some words after the game, commenting on what may even be legal to teach for a proper slide to break up a double-play.
“I know I’ve been told four or five different things from different crews about the rules, and last time, I was told it was going to be a common-sense-type thing,” Baker said. “I don’t know how you teach young players now to break up a double play, because there’s no such thing as breaking up a double play.” (ESPN)
At the game’s conclusion, Nationals GM, Mike Rizzo was heard calling out Joyce between the two clubhouses in Citi Field. Christian Red of the New York Daily News, stated that Rizzo walked by Joyce and simply stated, “You blew it.” The encounter escalated quickly with both needing to be restrained from each other.
Ever since Utley broke Ruben Tejada‘s leg on the fateful slide in the 2015 NLDS, baseball and how it’s played has been changed forever. It may not be the way we like, but it is simply the way it is. The umpires got this one right. Take a look for yourself and let us know your thoughts in the comments on the ruling and current status of breaking up a double-play.
