That's foul! Lourdes narrowly misses game-tying All-Star homer
Gurriel didn't know challenges were an option in Midsummer Classic, but NL still prevails
Adam McCalvy
@AdamMcCalvySEATTLE -- Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s first swing in a Major League All-Star Game produced a tying home run.
Until it didn’t.
And no less an authority than three-time All-Star Juan Soto took issue with that flip-flop.
“I think it was fair!” Soto said after the National League beat the American League, 3-2, for its first victory in an All-Star Game since 2012. “This is the All-Star Game and people want to see homers. I think you should keep it that way. Give the fans what they want.”
Even if it’s not a homer?
“Even if it’s not,” Soto said with a laugh.
Unfortunately for Soto and the other home run enthusiasts out there, Gurriel’s apparent solo blast off Blue Jays right-hander Jordan Romano was overturned after the replay review showed that his towering fly ball had drifted just to the left of the left-field pole in the seventh inning.
Just like that, the D-backs outfielder and his NL teammates were denied a 2-2 tie.
Credit José Ramírez of the Guardians, who was manning third base, and Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman for being the first to see that the ball had sliced foul. Almost immediately, they signaled toward the AL dugout that the play was worthy of a challenge.
“I didn’t know right away, but I thought it was foul, and then Adley Rutschman looked at me and thought it was foul, so hey," AL manager Dusty Baker said. “Then we got that famous call to the clubhouse, and they thought it was foul.”
Baker had a much better view from the AL dugout on the first-base side than Gurriel’s NL teammates along the third-base side. Many of them were certain it was a home run.
“I thought it was fair,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said. “They must have had a good angle at it to overturn it.”
“I had no idea you could challenge here in the All-Star Game,” Gurriel said.
Gurriel anguished during the wait, which was extended because Romano had to leave the game with back tightness in favor of Tigers right-hander Michael Lorenzo with the count even at 1-1.
Sure enough, it was foul. The score remained 2-1 in favor of the AL.
Gurriel eventually traded his towering homer for a slow roller along the third-base line that went for an infield single. When Gurriel’s D-backs teammate Geraldo Perdomo walked, the NL had the tying and go-ahead runners on base, but the rally fizzled and the AL reached the seventh-inning stretch with the lead.
Still, Gurriel said, “It was special to hit a home run in the All-Star Game, even though they called it back after.”
For Gurriel and the NL, the night ended with smiles and handshakes after another first-time All-Star, catcher Elias Díaz of the Rockies, hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth. This one wasn’t called back, and it snapped the NL’s nine-game losing streak in the Midsummer Classic.
Gurriel would appreciate more of the same in the second half after a terrific start to his season. He has an .810 OPS, with 15 home runs that put him on pace for a career high in the power department. His D-backs are in a tie for first place in the NL West.
And in May, he was sworn in as a United States citizen.
“It felt like I was playing back home in my backyard with friends,” he said of his All-Star Week. “It was an incredible experience. I enjoyed it a lot and the game was really fun. …
“I leave this game with big satisfaction, to be able to go in there in the clubhouse with such talented players. Incredible.”