Late in a White Sox vs. Twins game, a strange play unfolded in the ninth with two outs. Byron Buxton hit a soft liner to left that spun Eloy Jiménez around. The ball dropped in front of him, bounced, and got stuck under the padding of the outfield fence. Instead of grabbing it and throwing it in, Eloy raised his hands and signaled dead ball. Buxton took off thinking he might have an inside-the-parker, but Eloy never moved. He just pointed at the ball a few feet away and let the umpires handle it.
The strange part wasn’t just the ball getting stuck, but how obvious it was that Eloy could have picked it up. He chose the technicality. The replay confirmed the ball was lodged under the fence and ruled it dead, meaning Buxton only got second base. If Jiménez had just fielded it, Buxton would’ve had a double at best. Twins fans weren’t thrilled. Even Kepler looked confused in the dugout.
Despite the odd delay and heads-up by Jiménez, the White Sox ended the game with the next batter. It didn’t affect the final result, but it was a perfect mix of casual defense, rulebook quirks, and a bit of gamesmanship.