Ozzy Albies singled up the middle, putting a runner on first for the Braves with Jorge Soler up next. Soler chased a nasty curveball early in the count and then took a couple more, with the count sitting at 1-2. Albies took off to steal second and slid in safely. But then it got weird. On the throw to second, Soler leaned slightly into the catcher’s space and got hit by the throw. Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook immediately called batter interference, something rarely seen. According to the rulebook, when a batter interferes with a catcher’s throw, the batter is out, the ball is dead, and the runner must return to their original base. That should’ve meant Soler out, Albies back to first.
But Estabrook made it more confusing. He initially thought the count was full and that Soler had struck out, then interfered. Under that version, since the batter was already out on strikes, Albies would also be out due to interference, ending the inning on a very rare double play. Dave Roberts didn’t question it and took the two outs. Braves players looked puzzled as the umpires tried to sort it out. Eventually, they confirmed that the count was just 1-2, so Soler had not struck out before the interference. The final ruling: Soler was out for interference, and Albies returned to first. It wasn’t a double play, just a messy explanation of a seldom-used rule. The players were still visibly confused, and no one on the field seemed fully clear on what had just happened, except for the umpires after a long discussion.