In a Pacific Coast League game between Triple-A Reno (D-backs) and Albuquerque (Rockies) on May 21, 2025, at Greater Nevada Field, chaos ensued when the home team celebrated a bit prematurely.

Here’s how the play was basically reported:

With Reno trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning and one out, Connor Kaiser delivered a bases-loaded double to right-center field. Aramis Garcia, the tying run, scored from third. As Cristian Pache — the runner on second who represented the winning run — came around third and headed home, he collided with teammate Ildemaro Vargas, who had come out of the dugout with his cell phone to record the celebration. Andy Weber, the runner who started the play on first base, stopped at third, and Kaiser rounded second before starting to head toward the celebration.

Pache got up and went on to touch home plate, but he was ruled out because of interference by his own team. The play was scored 2 unassisted.

Meanwhile, Albuquerque center fielder Sam Hilliard thought the game was over on the hit and tossed the ball to a fan in the stands.

Fortunately for Reno, the trailing runner, Andy Weber, came all the way around to score amid the resulting confusion.

In the end, it boiled down to a 5–4 victory for Reno — one of the strangest walk-off wins you’ll ever see.

Ruleball Comments

• I agree that Reno won the game 5–4, but I disagree that Weber scored the winning run. Pache should have scored the winning run.
  If the umpires ruled interference on Vargas, as reported, in my opinion that ruling was incorrect.
• Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat that interferes with, obstructs, impedes, hinders, or confuses any fielder from making a play.
  Vargas, who ran onto the field from the dugout, did not hinder or create additional difficulty for any fielder. If anything, he hindered his own teammate, since the ball was already in the outfield when Vargas collided with Pache.
• Assuming Pache was incapacitated, he could have been thrown out since “Time” cannot be called while the ball remains in play.
  If Pache was incapacitated, Weber could have carried or pushed him to the plate because Weber was an active runner. However, if Vargas — a non-active player — attempted to assist Pache, he would be ruled out.
  If Pache was incapacitated and the outfielder threw the ball into dead-ball territory, a substitute runner could have been used for Pache to score the winning run.
• The moment Pache crossed the plate, the game was over. Rule 7.01(g)(3) states:
• “If the home team scores the winning run in its half of the ninth inning (or its half of an extra inning after a tie), the game ends immediately when the winning run scores.”
• The fact that Hilliard tossed the ball to a fan had nothing to do with Pache scoring the winning run. Normally, that would result in a two-base award for any runners on base.
• The broadcaster was totally confused. He wondered if obstruction should have been called on Vargas. Obstruction, however, applies to a defensive player who hinders or impedes the progress of a runner. The broadcaster incorrectly stated that Vargas should have been called for obstruction because he ran into Pache.
  He also incorrectly said, “It should be a dead ball.”
• It’s hard to find fault with the broadcaster, though, since this type of play is bizarre and occurs extremely rarely.

Play No. 2

In this Single-A California League game played on July 18, 2023, between the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) and the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres), the score was tied 8–8 in the bottom of the tenth. The Storm had the bases loaded with two outs when the batter hit a drive over the Quakes’ center fielder’s head and off the wall.

The runner who started on first base celebrated early and never touched second. Meanwhile, the batter-runner passed that same runner between first and second base. Before the passing occurred, the runner from third crossed the plate with what appeared to be the winning run.

Should the run count? Is the game over because the passing was the third out, or must it go into the 11th inning?

Before you look at my comments, if you were the umpire, how would you handle this one?

Ruleball Comments

• The run scores, and the game is over.
• It was foolish for the runner on first base to celebrate early and fail to touch second. If the batter-runner had not passed the runner on first and the defensive team had thrown to second base, the inning would have ended on a force out, and the run would not have scored because that would have been the third out.
• Once the batter-runner passed the runner on first base, the force was removed — the runner on first was no longer forced to advance to second base. Therefore, the play became a time play. Because the runner from third crossed the plate before the passing occurred, the run counts.
• If the passing had occurred before the runner from third touched home, the run would not have scored.

Play No. 3

Whenever an inning ends in a force out, no runs can score. Both teams — as well as the umpires — must be acutely aware of this rule.

The Single-A Lansing Lugnuts managed to lose a game to the Great Lakes Loons on July 1, 2013, because a runner wasn’t aware that when an inning ends in a force out, no runs can score. Here’s what happened:

Chris Hawkins was batting in the bottom of the ninth for the Lugnuts with the bases loaded and the score tied 4–4 when he hit what should have been a game-winning, walk-off single up the middle. Dwight Smith, the runner on third, crossed the plate with the apparent winning run. Hawkins reached first and was mobbed by his teammates.

But Santiago Nessy, the runner on first at the start of play, joined the celebration instead of running to second — the base he was forced to advance to.

James Baldwin, the Loons’ center fielder, wisely scooped up the ball, ran to second base, and touched the bag to record a force out on Nessy. After the play was pointed out to them by the Loons’ head coach, the umpires conferred and ruled that the game was still tied 4–4, because the run scored on the hit was negated by the force out at second base.

The teams were brought back onto the field to continue playing, and the Loons went on to win 5–4 in 10 innings.

Ruleball Comments

• Jubilant players who prematurely celebrate game-ending situations can be problematic.
• A player should never leave the dugout and enter the field of play in the middle of a live ball.
• Runners and coaches must be aware of inning-ending force situations.
• Defensively, teams must be aware of potential appeal plays in an inning-ending situation.

Rich Marazzi

Rules consultant/analyst: Angels, Dodgers, Mets, Nationals, Orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, Rangers, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees, YES, and Chicago Sports Network