Fernando Tatis Jr. found himself in the middle of some messy baserunning during the Padres-Dodgers game. He drew a four-pitch walk from Joe Kelly, then moved to third on a single from Trent Grisham. Grisham tried to stretch the hit into a double but got thrown out by Joc Pederson, leaving Tatis on third with one out instead of first and third with no outs. Manny Machado then hit a soft liner to left, and Tatis broke on contact instead of waiting to tag. Joc made the catch and threw home as Tatis got stuck between third and home.
Joe Kelly ran over from the mound to trap Tatis in a rundown, and Trea Turner finished the play by tagging him near home plate. Matt Beaty, covering the plate, stood in Tatis’ path before the ball arrived, leading to a collision. Tatis never touched home and was called out. The big question was whether Beaty illegally blocked the plate before receiving the ball. Depending on the rule interpretation, that could have been catcher interference or obstruction. But the umpires let it stand.
Meanwhile, Joc Pederson had a hand in all three outs in the inning, including two assists and putting out Machado’s liner. He even let Joe Kelly know about it on the way to the dugout. Despite the blunder, Tatis Jr. continues to produce offensively with a hot start to the season, but this trip around the bases didn’t go his way.