Diamondbacks win in wild ending
Chris Owings lifted a ball to deep center field and was mobbed by his Arizona Diamondbacks teammates just before reaching second base. The Diamondbacks continued to celebrate their way back to the dugout when they looked across the diamond and saw some of Cincinnati’s players gathering around the umpires.
Owings’ first career game-ending hit would have to wait. It took awhile to sort out the wild ending, but the host Diamondbacks wound up beating the Reds 4-3 on Owings’ hit in the 10th inning Sunday. “It was a little confusing there at the end,” Owings said. “I just did what I could, touched first base.”
The Diamondbacks loaded the bases against Ryan Mattheus (1-3), bringing up Owings with one out. He came through, sending a ball over the head of Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton and his teammates rushing from the dugout.
But as the Diamondbacks celebrated in the middle of the diamond, the Reds retrieved the ball — a stadium worker tossed it back — and began tagging the bases. The Reds claimed Arizona runners didn’t properly advance to touch the bags, and should be called out on force plays. The umpires discussed the Reds’ belated try for a double play for a couple of minutes before ruling the game was over.
With one out in the inning, only the runners heading to first and home had to touch their respective bases. “With one out, they got it right,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “The runner scored, batter-runner made it to first base and that ended the game.”
The confusion might’ve prompted some baseball fans to recall a famous play involving Fred Merkle. He was called out in a 1908 game for failing to touch the next base on what should have been a winning hit in a pivotal matchup between the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs.
Fan throws back homer ball, hits Yankee • A teenage fan at Yankee Stadium showed off quite an arm Sunday — at the expense of All-Star outfielder Brett Gardner.
The New York left fielder was hit in the back of the head but not hurt when a fan threw back a ball that Toronto slugger Jose Bautista had launched for a home run. Gardner flinched after he was struck in the fourth inning but stayed in the game without a problem.
“I just wore it. Didn’t even turn around,” he said. “It wasn’t like it was coming from the second row. It was a long ways away.”
Following the Yankees’ 2-0 defeat, Gardner said he had a little bump on his crown. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said the fan, 15, who threw the ball was seated with his father. Zillo said stadium security workers spoke to the pair and issued a warning, but they were not ejected from the ballpark.
Injury to Fernandez not as bad as feared • The Miami Marlins were relieved to learn that an MRI showed no structural damage to pitcher Jose Fernandez’s valuable right arm or shoulder. The righthander is headed for the disabled list with a biceps strain. The injury forced Miami to shuffle its rotation. David Phelps, the former Hazelwood West star who was scheduled to pitch Tuesday, will be pushed back to Thursday at Busch Stadium against the Cardinals to gain extra rest, manager Dan Jennings said. That would have been Fernandez’s next scheduled turn.
Wrigley Field evacuated • Chicago police evacuated Wrigley Field after someone called in a bomb threat following the Chicago Cubs’ 2-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants, but investigators determined the threat was unfounded. Reporters were ordered to leave the press box just after 6 p.m. and were allowed to return after 7.
From news services
