The SF Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 4-2 on Wednesday night thanks in large part to a four-run rally in the fifth inning. However, Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish nearly escaped the inning after allowing just one run. In fact, manager Bob Melvin thought the rally should have ended when Padres right fielder Fernando Tatís Jr. threw out Giants catcher Blake Sabol ( Giants preseason #33 prospect ) at home plate. While that was originally the third out in the inning, Giants manager Gabe Kapler challenged the ruling on the field, and Padres catcher Gary Sánchez was ruled to have violated MLB's Home Plate Collision Rule. Sabol was called safe, Melvin was ejected for arguing the call, the inning continued, and the Giants added two more runs.
"It's an awful call, and it had an impact on the game," Melvin said following the game. "I think all the way around. The baserunner's way up the line towards their dugout. At some point in time, you have to go get him. The throw took him up the line as well. Based on where he started, it looked like, they showed the replay from when the throw was already on the way, and as a catcher, you got to have some feel for that. You got to also understand the impact and where the runner was. To me, it was one of the worst calls I've seen this year."
The Home Plate Collision Rule has become a hot-button issue around MLB over the past couple of days. Former SF Giants manager Bruce Bochy was ejected in a nearly identical situation as Melvin when Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim was ruled to have violated the rule and cost Texas a win.
The rule itself is fairly vague as written, "The catcher is not permitted to block the runner's path to the plate unless he is in possession of the ball, though blocking the path of the runner in a legitimate attempt to receive a throw is not considered a violation." Generally speaking, catchers have been expected to keep their feet out of foul territory prior to corraling a catch, something Sánchez did not do on Wednesday. However, it's clear teams want a more definitive answer.
An added source of frustration for the Padres is that a baserunner can still be ruled out in the case of a violation if they were "clearly beaten by the throw." It sure looked like the ball beat Sabol to the plate by a long shot. Nevertheless, the call was made, and the SF Giants extended their winning streak to 10 games.
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