The Phillies and Pirates wrapped up a spring training game with a strange finish in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and the Pirates down to their last batter, longtime prospect Will Craig stepped in. After fouling off a couple pitches, Craig claimed he got hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count. Home plate umpire Laz Diaz wasn’t buying it and denied the call, likely eager to end the game. Craig stayed in the box and chopped a soft grounder to third. The third baseman charged, fielded cleanly, and fired to first. The throw beat Craig, but the first baseman’s foot came off the bag. Diaz called him safe.
Things got weird right after. As Craig lingered near first and didn’t pick up his helmet, the pitcher yelled at the first baseman to tag him. The tag was made, and the umpire called Craig out to end the game. Confusion followed as Diaz explained Craig had run past the base. Pirates manager Derek Shelton came out to argue, noting that if this were a regular season game, they’d have gone to replay. It looked more like the umps changed the call just to wrap up a meaningless spring game. Diaz and the crew quickly walked off without much explanation, and the whole situation left the Pirates scratching their heads.