How controversial dead-ball call kept Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series hopes alive against Toronto Blue Jays and forced Game 7
Published 01/11/2025 at 12:03 GMT
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The Los Angeles Dodgers forced a Game 7 in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-1 win at the Rogers Centre on Friday night. The Blue Jays were approaching a franchise-defining moment, only for a controversial call that ruled Addison Barger's line-drive double to be called dead, and send him back to second instead of potentially tying the game.
Dead ball? How controversial call helped Dodgers force Game 7
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers kept their World Series hopes alive after a controversial call helped force a winner-takes-all Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Dodgers held on for a 3-1 win at Rogers Centre on Friday after a ball lodged at the base of a wall to deny the Blue Jays a scoring chance.
With the Blue Jays rallying in their final inning, Addison Barger hit a line-drive double that saw him and Myles Straw round the bases to score.
Had the ball been an inch higher or an inch lower, it would have safely ricocheted off the wall. But outfielder Justin Dean gave up on the ball and signaled to umpires that it was stuck, and the ball was ruled dead.
Home fans celebrated as pinch-runner Straw scored and Barger looked to have an inside-the-park home run.
But instead of tying the score, the dead-ball ruling meant the runners were sent to second and third bases.
The Blue Jays would then fail to score either Straw or Barger, and the Dodgers won 3-1.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he had never seen anything like that happen during his time with the club, but agreed with the umpires' ruling.
"Been here a long time, haven’t seen a ball get lodged, ever," Schneider said.
"Caught a tough break there. He put a really good swing on that pitch. Ultimately we had second and third with none out and guys who make contact and just didn’t get it done."
Dodgers general manager Dave Roberts praised Dean for his awareness in not attempting to play the lodged ball.
"As the rule is current, you want to play that ball, actually, and you can go back and replay the lodged ball. But [Dean] still was aware of it being lodged, and then the outfield umpire kind of blew it dead as well. So it worked out great, but certainly good awareness [by Dean]."
What is the rule for a ‘dead ball?’
Major League Baseball's ruling on dead balls is as follows:
"If a fair ball gets lodged in the outfield wall padding - or the ivy, in the case of Wrigley Field - it is a ground-rule double. On all ground-rule doubles, the ball is dead, the batter-runner goes to second and all additional runners are permitted to move up two bases from the one they occupied at the time of the pitch."
The MLB also has specific ground rules for different venues, and the ground rules for the Rogers Centre states: "Fair ball lodging in fence padding" equals two bases for the hitter and any runners that were on base.
Game 7 of the World Series is on Saturday night at the Rogers Centre, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Shohei Ohtani is expected to start for the Dodgers, while Max Scherzer may take the mound for Toronto.
Stream top MLB action including the World Series on discovery+
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