The Texas Rangers lost in heartbreaking fashion on Monday thanks to a controversial late slide call at second base.
The Rangers were trailing the Colorado Rockies 6-4 in the 10th inning of Monday’s home opener but had the tying runs on base with one out. Adolis Garcia hit a ground ball to third, resulting in a force play at second. On the relay attempt, however, Rockies shortstop Brendan Rodgers’ throw got past first baseman C.J. Cron, seemingly extending the game and putting two runners in scoring position.
After a review, Rangers catcher Mitch Garver was ruled to have illegally slid into second base. That meant the runner at first was out due to interference and the game was over.
This is a judgment call, but the bizarre part is this was not originally ruled as interference. That call was made after video replay. Rarely are judgement calls like that overturned, and the inclination is usually to stick with the call on the field.
Presumably, the argument would be that Garver slid into second later than he needed to. That logic is iffy at best, and few would bat an eye at how he slid. One can certainly sympathize with the Rangers here, and it’s not the first time we’ve seen this happen, either.
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