Controversial 'Lodged Ball' Call Leads to Blue Jays' Loss In Game Six of World Series

Roki Sasaki, who was out for his second inning of work, looking to be as dominant as he was in the bottom of the eighth inning, would start on shaky ground, hitting Alejandro Kirk to give the Blue Jays a leadoff runner on. Kirk, who would exit the game after being struck on his wrist, would be replaced by the speedy Myles Straw.

Barger would step up to the plate, hoping to start a rally, or even better, cause chaos with one swing. He did in fact do that, but not in the way they wanted, launching a line drive in the gap between left and center field. As Dodgers centerfielder Justin Dean closed on it, he realized the ball never bounced back, instead becoming lodged in the bottom of the wall.

As Straw rounded third, thunderous footsteps sprinting home, echoes by the thunderous roar of the crowd cheering for the home team's bottom of the ninth inning, there was a different scene in centerfield. The umpires signaled a dead ball, ruling a ground-rule double, and that quickly became a celebration, which turned into confusion just as quickly.

Instead of a run scoring, and Barger in scoring position, they had runners on second and third with no outs, and were now tasked with facing Tyler Glasnow, who would look to close the door on any magic north of the USA border. Ernie Clement would step in and, on the first pitch, would pop out to the infield, an unproductive out for the Blue Jays.

Now it would turn to Andres Gimenez, who has shown the damage he is capable of during the World Series. On the second pitch of the at-bat, he would send a laser to left field, which would find a glove, and Barger would be thrown out at second, having gotten off the bag just a little too much on the play.

The nightmare had struck for the Blue Jays; they would lose game six, and now would be faced with the two greatest words in sports: Game Seven. With what will be viewed as one of the most controversial calls in baseball history, the pressure has now shifted to the Blue Jays, rather than the Dodgers, in the biggest game of the century for the ballclub.

More Blue Jays On SI