Brewers get big assist from their ballpark roof to beat Padres 3-2 in NLDS opener

As soon as he swung the bat, Ty France believed he had hit a two-run homer to put the San Diego Padres ahead in the ninth inning of their NL Division Series opener against Milwaukee.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy figured France’s drive was heading foul instead.

Neither was correct.

In one of the most bizarre plays in American Family Field’s 25-year history, France hit a towering flyball that seemed as though it might be headed over the left-field wall until it struck a cable on the roof of the stadium. The ball then fell into the glove of Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio on the warning track for the second out of the inning.

One out later, the Brewers had secured a 3-2 victory Saturday night to take the early lead in this best-of-five series.

“We joked about it at the umpire meeting today about what would happen if the ball hit the roof,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “And it was unlikely — but it happened.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen that in four years here,” said Brewers closer Trevor Megill, who gave up the long drive. “I had no idea what the ruling was until the home plate umpire came up and told me it’s a live ball, no matter what.”

Under the stadium’s ground rules, any batted ball striking the roof or one of its cables in fair territory is a fair ball that can be caught for an out. The Padres unsuccessfully challenged that France’s drive was a foul ball.

“Unfortunately, a bad break for us. Looked like it was a possible home run. Just didn’t go our way,” Stammen said.

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The game-changing play came with Dustin Harris on first base following a leadoff single. France’s drive left his bat at 105.3 mph with a 49-degree launch angle, and it was caught 325 feet from home plate.

Megill was asked after the game what he thought once France connected.

“Oh, crap,” Megill said. “I’ll keep it PG for you.”

There has never been a home run at American Family Field with a launch angle greater than 46 degrees since Statcast tracking started in 2015. And there have only been 10 homers hit over the fence at any major league ballpark during that period with a launch angle of 49 degrees or higher.

France, however, had no doubt the ball would have cleared the left-field wall if it hadn’t hit the cable.

“The biggest question was, was it going to stay fair or foul,” France said. “I thought I back-spun it, and it was going to stay fair. I knew it was going out. It was just unfortunate.”

“It was going to be a foul ball, for sure. I’m standing right on that line,” he said. “A hitter that talented, they would have liked to have that hitter back up there with another strike.”

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Instead, Chourio was in the right place at the right time as the ball landed harmlessly in his glove.

“I wasn’t all that sure of what the rule was, and I wasn’t really all that sure that it actually did hit anything,” Chourio said through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert. “I thought I had a chance on that ball kind of the whole time off the bat. Then the only thing I kind of realized (is) it changed direction a little bit, but I thought I had a bead on it for the majority of the time.”

Megill then completed his four-out save by retiring Jackson Merrill on a liner to right fielder Luis Lara.

It wasn’t the first time the American Family Field roof played a role in a Brewers playoff game. Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell caught a high pop fly from Philadelphia’s Jayson Werth that hit the roof during the 2008 NL Division Series.

Remarkably, it also wasn’t the first time this season the Padres lost a potential home run to a stadium’s unique ground rules.

Xander Bogaerts had a potential homer taken away at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field on Aug. 28 when his drive struck the stadium’s B-ring catwalk and was caught by Rays third baseman Junior Caminero. Bogaerts’ drive had been projected by Statcast to go 386 feet.

The fact that those types of projected distances are available had France wondering if something can be done to avoid these sort of circumstances in the future.

Rob Tringali/MLB/Getty Images

If it’s apparent the ball would have been a homer if it hadn’t hit the roof, why not just call it a homer?

“You would think with all the technology and data and everything we have now, we’d be able to make a clear call on that,” France said. “I don’t know if that’s ever been done before, but yeah, there should be something put in place right there. That shouldn’t be an out.”

France didn’t get his homer. He just got a natural topic of conversation the next time he and Megill cross paths. The two have a history together from shared Southern California backgrounds.

“Him and I go way back,” France said. “We played on the same high school scout ball team, so I’ve known him for a long time.”

While the Padres could blame their loss on a cruel twist of fate, Murphy believed he knew exactly who to thank for this improbable finish. He thought of longtime broadcaster Bob Uecker, who remains the most beloved figure in Brewers history less than two years after dying at age 90.

“Ueck decided to put his hand on it and swat it down so Chourio could catch it,” Murphy said. “So thanks, Ueck.”

泰·弗朗斯挥棒的那一刻，他以为自己击出了一支两分全垒打，帮助圣地亚哥教士队在与密尔沃基酿酒人队的国联分区系列赛首战的第九局中领先。

酿酒人队经理帕特·墨菲认为弗朗斯的击球会飞出界外。

两者都不正确。

在美利坚家庭球场25年历史上最离奇的比赛之一中，弗朗斯击出一记高飞球，眼看就要飞过左外野围墙，却击中了球场屋顶的一根缆绳。随后，球落入酿酒人队左外野手杰克逊·乔里奥在警戒区内的手套中，成为该局的第二个出局数。

周六晚，酿酒人队以 3-2 的比分获胜，在五局三胜制的系列赛中取得了领先。

“今天在裁判会议上，我们还开玩笑说，如果球打到屋顶会怎么样，”教士队经理克雷格·斯塔门说。“虽然不太可能，但它真的发生了。”

“这是我在这里四年来第一次见到这种情况，”酿酒人队的终结者特雷弗·梅吉尔说道，他被击出了那记远距离本垒打。“直到主裁判走过来告诉我，无论如何，这都是个活球，我才知道判罚结果。”

根据球场规则，任何击出的球如果击中界内区域的屋顶或缆绳，都属于界内球，可以接杀出局。教士队挑战弗朗斯的击球为界外球，但未能成功。

“很遗憾，我们运气不好。本来有机会打出全垒打的，可惜事与愿违。”斯塔门说道。

约翰·费舍尔/盖蒂图片社

改变比赛走向的关键一击发生在达斯汀·哈里斯击出一垒安打后站上一垒时。弗朗斯的击球速度达到105.3英里/小时，击球角度为49度，最终在距离本垒325英尺处被接杀。

赛后有人问梅吉尔，法国队取得领先之后，他有什么想法。

“哦，糟糕，”梅吉尔说。“我会尽量控制在PG级（家长指导级）的范围内。”

自 2015 年 Statcast 开始追踪以来，美国家庭球场从未出现过发射角大于 46 度的本垒打。在此期间，大联盟所有球场中，也只有 10 个本垒打的发射角达到或超过 49 度。

然而，法国方面毫不怀疑，如果球没有击中电缆，它肯定会越过左外野的围墙。

“最大的问题是，球会出界还是出界，”弗朗斯说。“我以为我打出了反旋球，球会出界。我知道球会出界。只是运气不好。”

“那肯定是个界外球，我当时就站在界线上，”他说。“像他这样有天赋的击球手，他们肯定希望他能再上一次打击，即使已经是好球了。”

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

相反，乔里奥恰好出现在正确的位置，球毫发无损地落入了他的手套中。

“我不太确定规则是什么，也不太确定球到底有没有击中目标，”乔里奥通过翻译丹尼尔·德·蒙德塞特说道。“从一开始我就觉得有机会击中那个球。后来我才意识到，球稍微改变了方向，但我觉得大部分时间我都看准了它的飞行轨迹。”

随后，梅吉尔让杰克逊·梅里尔击出右外野方向的平飞球，被路易斯·拉拉接杀出局，完成了他的四次出局救援。

这并非美国家庭球场的屋顶第一次在酿酒人队的季后赛中发挥作用。在2008年国联分区系列赛中，密尔沃基队的克雷格·康塞尔接住了费城队杰森·沃斯击出的高飞球，球击中了屋顶。

值得注意的是，这也不是本赛季教士队第一次因为球场的特殊规则而错失本垒打机会。

8月28日，在坦帕湾光芒队的主场纯品康纳球场，赞德·博加茨的一记本垒打被判无效。当时，他的击球击中了球场B环的走道，被光芒队三垒手小卡米内罗接住。根据Statcast的预测，博加茨的这记击球本应飞行386英尺。

由于可以获取这类预测距离，法国开始思考是否可以采取一些措施来避免将来出现此类情况。

Rob Tringali/MLB/Getty Images

如果很明显，如果球没有击中屋顶就会成为本垒打，为什么不直接称它为本垒打呢？

“你可能会觉得，凭借我们现在拥有的所有技术、数据等等，我们应该能够就此做出明确的判断，”弗朗斯说。“我不知道以前是否有人这样做过，但确实应该在这方面采取一些措施。这不应该成为借口。”

法国没能打出全垒打，但他和梅吉尔下次见面时却有了一个自然而然的话题。两人都来自南加州，有着一段渊源。

“我和他认识很久了，”弗朗斯说。“我们高中时在同一支少年棒球队打球，所以我认识他很久了。”

尽管教士队可以将失利归咎于命运的捉弄，但墨菲坚信他知道该感谢谁才能成就这场不可思议的比赛。他想到了资深解说员鲍勃·尤克尔，这位90岁高龄的解说员在去世不到两年后，依然是酿酒人队历史上最受爱戴的人物。

“尤克决定伸手把它拍下来，这样乔里奥就能接住了，”墨菲说。“所以，谢谢你，尤克。”