Weird things happen at Coors Field, though they usually involve a lot of offense. On Saturday, the Rockies narrowly beat the Pirates at Coors Field (COL 2, PIT 1) thanks to a game-ending runner interference. The umpires ruled that Billy Cook’s foot made contact with third baseman Kyle Karros’ glove as he attempted to field the 27th out, and called Cook out.
“I was going to get the ball, then his cleat kind of clipped my glove,” Karros, who immediately looked at second base umpire Tyler Jones, said after the game (via MLB.com). “I still fielded the ball, but it was all kind of rattling around in my glove, so I couldn’t really get a throw off. But I knew the rule going into it.”
The contact wasn’t obvious in real time. Cook’s foot really only nudged Karros’ glove, but he made contact, and it’s clear on the slowed-down replay. The umpires got together, talked it out, and ruled Cook out for interference, ending the game. Here’s the play:
“They said that they got together and that Billy kicked his glove, which he did, looking at the replay,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said (via MLB.com). “I just didn’t know, if you saw that, why it wasn’t called immediately. You had to get together to call it.”
MLB Rule 6.01 covers interference and says that if any member of the team “hinders a fielder’s attempt to catch or field a batted ball, the ball is dead, the batter is declared out and all runners return to the bases occupied at the time of the pitch.” In this case, it was Cook who hindered Karros’ attempt to field the ball, so the out was called, ending the game.
“I didn’t feel contact, and then all of a sudden they called me out and I was like, ‘Dude, I didn’t feel it,'” Cook said (via MLB.com). “I watched the replay and it nicks just enough of his glove, but the cleat and everything, I didn’t feel it in the toe area. I guess the replay shows that I did. The video doesn’t lie. Just unfortunate how that played out.” Â
The weird ending capped back-to-back tough losses for the Pirates in Colorado. Down 4-3 on Friday, they loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning, but failed to score because of a strikeout and a double play. On Saturday, they had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth, but didn’t score because of a strikeout and Cook’s runner interference. Ouch.
Saturday’s loss was Pittsburgh’s tenth loss in their last 14 games. They are 38-39 and two games behind the third wild-card spot with five teams ahead of them. The Pirates are trying to reach the postseason for the first time since 2015.
The Rockies, meanwhile, improved to 30-47 with Saturday’s win. They have baseball’s worst record, though 30-47 represents a significant improvement. They were 17-60 through 77 games last year and were 30-88 at one point.
