Pittsburgh — It got lost in all the middle-inning drama Monday night, but the Tigers had a golden chance to turn a triple play in the second inning of their 8-5 win.
The Pirates had runners at first and second with no outs. Rafael Flores Jr. hit a soft, sinking liner right at third baseman Kevin McGonigle.
McGonigle caught the ball just before it hit the ground and made a quick throw across the diamond trying to double up Nick Gonzales off first base.
Little did McGonigle know, but behind him, third-base umpire Austin Jones ruled that the ball was trapped. So the official play was a 5-3 putout. But had McGonigle known what Jones ruled, he could've stepped on third and started a 5-4-3 triple-play.
“I caught the ball and I didn’t think of looking at the umpire before making the play,” McGonigle said. “I just went with my instinct and try to double up at first. If I was able to see the umpire say no catch, I would’ve tagged third and thrown to second. Just a weird play.”
A play like that is not reviewable. McGonigle clearly caught the ball. Why an umpire positioned behind the fielder with no clear look at how the ball got in McGonigle’s glove is the ruling body on that play is a fair question.
The home-plate umpire, Ben May, did not know that Jones had waved off the catch, either.
“Kevin knew he caught the ball,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “His reaction was based on what his instincts were because he caught the ball. If he hadn’t, his instincts would’ve taken him to make a different play. But he didn’t know the ruling and wouldn’t have as fast as that play was, given the umpire was behind him.
“Just part of the quirks of the game.”
McGonigle asked the umpire why they couldn’t review the play.
“He said there were so many different scenarios that could happen after that,” he said. “That’s why they don’t allow challenges with that.”
The tenor of the discussion would've been a little more intense had center fielder Max Clark not bailed the Tigers out of the inning with an outstanding running catch at the fence in left-center, robbing Jake Magnum of a two-run double or triple.
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Did an umpire's incorrect ruling thwart a Tigers triple-play?