Gamel's epic 9-2 forceout key to Crew's win
This browser does not support the video element.
MILWAUKEE -- From the Department of You Don’t See That Every Day, we give you the forceout at home plate on a one-hopper to the right fielder.
The play -- which was sparked by Brewers right fielder Ben Gamel -- was so odd that it temporarily befuddled the home-plate umpire. Once the correct call was made, it was more than an oddity, it was the decisive out of Milwaukee’s 3-2 win over the Reds on Tuesday at Miller Park.
“We may not ever see that again, a 9-2 forceout,” said Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff, the beneficiary. “It was very confusing. But I think the baseball gods were kind of on my side there a little bit.”
The Brewers had just taken the lead with a three-run fourth inning when Woodruff found trouble in the fifth. He allowed a sharp leadoff single to Freddy Galvis, a double to Mark Payton for Payton’s first Major League hit, and then a walk to nine-hole hitter Tucker Barnhart that loaded the bases with no outs. Joey Votto was next, and his slump grew to 0-for-17 -- on the way to 0-for-18 with four strikeouts and an ejection before the night was done -- when he took an inside pitch for a called strike three by plate umpire Shane Livensparger.
This browser does not support the video element.
Then things got weird.
Nick Castellanos lined what appeared to be a base hit to right field. Before one could mark an RBI single on the scorecard, Gamel rifled a 90.2 mph throw home. It was his hardest tracked throw this season by Statcast, and it became his hardest-tracked putout ever when Galvis, who had held up to make sure Gamel didn’t make the catch, lost the race home. Alertly, Brewers catcher Omar Narváez stretched like a first baseman to receive the throw.
The initial call, however, was safe. But after a moment to consider the circumstances of the strange play, Livensparger agreed.
"The force play at home from the outfield is just not a play you ever see,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “I think he just lost track of what was going on. In the end, it wasn't that big of a deal. We would have challenged it, and they would have reversed it.”
Said Reds manager David Bell: “From the first day of professional baseball, you're taught when a ball is hit in the air to the outfield, you’re breaking back to the base, because what you don't want to happen is the guy comes in, catches the ball in the air or makes the diving play, and you're not able to tag up and score. So, that's what Freddy was thinking.”
The Reds never got another hit. When Woodruff induced a popout to second base, the inning was suddenly over. Woodruff, Brent Suter, Devin Williams and Josh Hader combined to go 13 up, 13 down the rest of the way. In the scorebook, it was 15 up, 15 down, after Castellanos was denied a hit.
This browser does not support the video element.
How unusual is a 9-2 forceout? According to Elias, it’s not unprecedented. But finding a comparable play was tricky.
Aug. 3, 2016, Giants at Phillies: With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning and one out, Maikel Franco hit a line drive into right field to win the game. The runner at first saw the winning run cross home and joined the celebration. Giants right fielder Hunter Pence retrieved the ball and threw it to catcher Buster Posey covering second base, and umpire Dale Scott signaled an out, so it went in the books as a walk-off fielder’s choice.
June 20, 2016, White Sox at Red Sox: With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game, future Brewers utility man Tyler Saladino entered the game for the White Sox as the new right fielder. But he was actually positioned as part of a five-man infield, so when Christian Vázquez hit a two-out ground ball to Saladino and he threw home, it went down as a 9-2 forceout.
To find a play that actually looked like the one the Brewers pulled off Tuesday, one must go back further...
July 11, 2009, Royals at Red Sox: Top of the sixth, bases loaded, Ryan Freel batting for Kansas City. He hit a flare to Boston right fielder J.D. Drew, who rifled a throw home to force out Miguel Olivo on the way to a 15-9 Red Sox win. Olivo, like Galvis, had been caught in-between on a fly ball he thought might be caught.
Had Gamel ever seen a play like that before?
“I do not think so, no. That is pretty random,” Gamel said. “You know, nothing really ceases to amaze me in this game. It’s been played for 100 years and we still see something new every week.”
“Baseball is a beautiful thing,” Woodruff said. “It can drive you nuts one inning and then be your best friend the next. I think that’s why this is the greatest game ever.”