The Baltimore Orioles held an 8-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Then, the White Sox scored four runs and appeared to make an unbelievable comeback.
However, the game ended in one of the more controversial calls in recent memory. Andrew Benintendi popped out to shortstop for the second out of the inning with two runners on base still. Yet, in some confusion, the final out was called due to a runner's interference on Andrew Vaughn. Here's a video of the play and the reaction from the White Sox announcers.
Yes, that is how the game ended with the Orioles walking away with an 8-6 win full of controversy, and one that will be looked out by a lot of people and hopefully the MLB office to see whether or not the call was right.
While all this was trying to get sorted out, NBC Sports Chicago announcer John Schriffen laid into the umpires for one of the more puzzling calls we might have ever seen in a baseball game.
“No, they can't end the game like this…No way…Adrian Johnson. As the crew chief, you gotta take over here. THAT CANNOT BE HOW THIS GAME ENDS…I don't even have any words right now. I'm at a loss and I'm trying to keep my job.”
Schriffen elaborated even more, saying: “Are we seeing some bad calls this season? That is one of the worst calls I have ever seen. That is terrible. … This doesn’t even make sense. Vaughn is walking back to the bag with his back to the fielder, and they end the game like this? C’mon. What is this nonsense?”
Steve Stone, the other broadcaster for NBC Sports Chicago, uttered, “That’s a terrible call. Andrew had no idea where he was and Henderson went around him. He didn’t interfere, he made the catch, it was an automatic out anyway. This is a horrible ending to this game.”
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol addressed the play
After the game, Pedro Grifol, who was more than confused and displeased with the call, spoke about it, per Scott Allen of The Washington Post.
“I understand it, but I don’t have to like it,” Grifol said. “I just don’t like the rule. I think that rule needs to be to a point where if that fielder is impeded by the runner to catch the baseball, then I can see it. But in this situation, [Henderson’s] camped in the middle of the infield with his arms out waiting for the ball to come down. … I don’t think the game should end like that.”
That is a brutal ending to a game in which the White Sox were making a miraculous comeback, and it fell short because of a call like that.
Adrian Johnson, the crew chief, reiterated that it was the correct call, per Scott Allen: “The ball was hit and infield fly was ruled on the play. Junior came in with the interference [call] on Andrew Vaughn, the runner on second base. Actually the shortstop made contact with him, so with the interference, that’s an out. And you still have the infield fly, and that’s an out also.”
Johnson's insistence is that Gunnar Henderson made contact with Vaughn, causing it to be called runner's interference and ending the game for that reason. Whether or not that is justified is a different story, but Grifol and the White Sox have every right to be upset about the controversial ending to the game.
There have been some bad calls by MLB umpires this season, but this one will be remembered as one of the worst for quite some time.
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