Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner on opening day: home run confusion



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If you’re looking for Opening Day’s weirdest game, look no further than Coors Field.

In the third inning of the game between the Dodgers and the Rockies, we saw a single that bounced out of an outfielder’s glove and over the fence. Wait what?

Let’s try to explain the chaos.

Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger hit a long left field ball on a Germán Márquez slider. Considering the game is being played at Coors Field, which is best for hitters, it looked like the ball had a good chance of getting through the fence. But Rockies outfielder Raimel Tapia pulled off a good jump on the ball and leaped forward as he collided with the wall. Except he didn’t.

As Tapia banged against the wall, the ball came out of his glove and over the left field fence. It’s a circuit for Bellinger then, isn’t it?

In a normal game, yes. But it was not a normal game.

Justin Turner, who was on first base at the time of contact, had rounded second and was heading towards third. When he saw Tapia initially appearing to be playing the game, he turned around and bowed his head as he came back first. He never saw the bullet go over the fence.

Turner ended up retreating to the first basic sack, forcing Bellinger to pass him on the basic paths. Under the rule, if the batter passes the lead runner, he is considered out. This applies even if the ball ends up crossing the fence.

After a long discussion on the pitch with the two managers, the referees awarded Bellinger a simple RBI despite the ball crossing the fence. Turner was cleared to sidestep goals, giving the Dodgers perhaps the strangest 1-0 lead you’ll see this season.

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