Baseball is a game full of strange rules, both written or unwritten. However, the other day in a Nationals vs Pirates game one of the strangest rules was put on display.
In the fifth inning of a 3-3 game, the Pirates had runners on second and third with one out.
The pirates lined out first and both runners advanced without tagging up.
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The Nationals threw it to third where the runner from second base was tagged then touched third base. The runner from third had already scored at the time of the tag out. That tag out being a timed play resulting in a scored run.
The Nationals should have appealed that the runner did not tag third and that run would have been taken off the board, however, they left the field before the appeal was made. That officially ends the inning and for that reason, the run will still count.
What should have happened was the third baseman stepping on the bag first.
That would have resulted in a third out being the runner starting on third base. Despite it being obvious that the runner on third didn’t tag up, the timed tag-out supersedes that ruling.
Somehow that ruling didn’t result in a dozen ejections, as I don’t believe anyone has ever heard about this ruling. That run was the difference in the game as the Pirates won 8-7.
Most player games with 3 home runs in a game for a team this year:
Pittsburgh Pirates: 2 (Suwinski and Reynolds)
Blue Jays, Rays, Giants, Yankees, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Nationals: 1@Pirates | #Raiseithttps://t.co/7iicg4BWin pic.twitter.com/2aPZyv8SHF
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) June 30, 2022
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| Title: Explanation of the ‘4th out rule’ in the game between the Pirates and Nationals this past Wednesday.
| Author: Matt Catton
| Date: July 5, 2022
