Nobody on the field was quite sure of the situation in the fourth inning of NLCS Game 1 on Monday night, even center fielder Sal Frelick, who was at the center of the chaotic play when he leaped at the warning track to try to rob a potential grand slam off the bat of Max Muncy.
Frelick initially got his glove on the ball but couldn’t quite corral it. It bounced off the top of the wall and then ended up back in his glove, seeming as though he might have made the catch. This caused some confusion for the Dodgers, who had the bases loaded with one out, even though left-field umpire Chad Fairchild made the no-catch call from the start. Teoscar Hernández, who was at third base, was tagging up on the play, while Will Smith, who was at second base, was going halfway to third.
Once it looked like Frelick had touched the ball with his glove, Hernández started for home, but when it came out and was caught again, he retreated back to the bag, costing him precious seconds. By the time he headed for home, the ball had come in to cutoff man Joey Ortiz, who threw home to get Hernández out by force.
Smith had also retreated to second base at that point, believing the ball had been caught. That allowed catcher William Contreras to simply walk to third base and tag it for the third out of the inning and one of the wildest double plays you will ever witness.
