Trea Turner tried to spark a rally in the seventh with the Nationals up two runs on the Cubs. He swung through a high fastball for strike three but sprinted to first on a dropped third strike. Turner stayed in a straight line running down the base path, but the throw from the catcher sailed into him. The umpire called him out for interference, a judgment call that drew immediate complaints from D.C. manager Davey Martinez. The issue is that Turner followed the base path as designed, but the throw hit him, and the ump said he had to make the call.
Martinez was furious. He argued that if MLB wants runners to stay in the lane to the right of the foul line, then the base should be moved over there. His rant ended with him getting tossed. He didn’t hold back after the game either, calling the decision ridiculous and challenging the umpire’s explanation that his hands were tied by the rule. It’s the same scenario that’s played out before with Turner, and again he got penalized for a bad throw, not bad baserunning. Fans in the stadium were into it, with one guy even celebrating the first base toss like he’d won something. Meanwhile, Turner looked frustrated but not surprised. The call stuck, momentum stalled, and another gray-area rule left people asking for common sense over strict literalism.