PNC Park has been a breeding ground for the truly bizarre this season.
On Sunday, the Pirates were finally on the right side of the unprecedented, even though they would still end up losing.
Already up 3-0 against the Mets with the bases loaded and one out in the first inning, Kevin Newman was jammed by an inside fastball from Taijuan Walker that slowly started to roll down the third base line. Walker ran over to the line, and with him thinking the ball was foul, flipped it towards the Pirates dugout.
One catch: It was fair.
In play, run(s) pic.twitter.com/bdTzc0SU9r
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 18, 2021
The Mets’ reaction was to argue with home plate umpire Jeremy Riggs rather than field the ball, and the Pirates took advantage of the lull by scoring three runs.
“Obviously, I thought it was foul," Walker said after the game. "It was so close. It is what is. It’s over with. We won the game."
Walker added that he didn't know the ball was still in play.
Watching from the first base camera well at PNC Park, Newman’s ground ball actually started foul, but by the time Walker had gotten to it, it had rolled back to the edge of the chalk and fair territory:
Mets manager Luis Rojas was quickly ejected arguing the play, and Walker was pulled after walking Pirates starter JT Brubaker the following batter.
While the play was happening, Brubaker doubled as an extra third base coach from the on-deck circle, waving runners on with Joey Cora.
"Ever since college, I was always told don't flip the ball, don't flip it," Brubaker said. "Just pick it up and see what the umpire's choice is. As soon as he flipped it and I saw it, I just pointed that it stayed in play and saw that they were arguing, so just watched them run around the bases. Just trying to let them know that it stayed in play and keep running."
Officially, Newman was credited with an infield single and one RBI, with the other two runs being attributed to Walker’s error. Newman also made it to second on the play.
"My read was I hit and it definitely started in foul territory, and then I saw it kind of creeping its way back and I just took off running, thinking maybe what could happen," Newman said. "Maybe this thing comes back. So I just started running, and then as I'm running to first, I turned my head and saw him swat the ball in foul territory and everybody's going crazy. And then I heard, 'Run to second base!' "
Baseball Savant tracked Newman's hit as traveling just one foot.
"This is a base hit up the middle in my book," Newman joked.
