The Chicago White Sox lost Thursday night's game against Baltimore as the umpires made a horrible call to end the game.
The stage was set: The White Sox had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the ninth with the winning run at the plate as the Orioles led the game 8-6. White Sox batter Andrew Benintendi hit an infield fly to shortstop for the second out of the inning. The White Sox should have had one more at-bat, but the umpires ruled that the runner on second, Andrew Vaughn, interfered with shortstop Gunnar Henderson on the pop-up. Because of the alleged obstruction, Vaughn was called out and the game was over.
However, if you watch video of the play, you can see that there was no deliberate intent on Vaughn's part to interfere with Henderson. Vaughn simply walked back to second as the ball was in the air with no idea where the ball or Henderson was. Henderson did have to move around Vaughn as he came in to catch the pop-up, but not because Vaughn was purposely obstructing Henderson from catching the ball.
The umpires said Andrew Vaughn interfered on this infield fly and that’s how the White Sox fall to 15-36 @barstoolchicago @StoolBaseball pic.twitter.com/44gI5JeB0Z
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 24, 2024
White Sox television announcers summed up the frustration of Chicago fans:
"No, they can't end the game like this...NO WAY!...THAT CANNOT BE HOW THIS GAME ENDS!...That is one of the worst calls I have ever seen."
The game goes into the scorebooks with the Orioles beating the White Sox 8-6, but we would tend to agree. This was a ridiculous call.
UPDATE: Sources are claiming that MLB reached out to the White Sox admitting that it was a bad call. Doesn't do the White Sox much good, though.
League reached out to the White Sox, per source. Essentially told them the obstruction call to end the game should not have been made. There IS some discretion there. https://t.co/gxCSWcXwb2
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 24, 2024
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
