The San Diego Padres have had a frustrating few days.
First, San Diego was swept by its NL West rivals this weekend, handing the division lead back to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, last night, a controversial fan interference call negated a Xander Bogaerts’ home run in a series-opening 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants.
Padres manager Mike Shildt was ejected for arguing the call after a lengthy review took the home run off the board. He spoke about the moment following the loss.
Shildt breaks silence on interference call
The moment in question occurred in the second inning at Petco Park when Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos narrowly missed Bogaerts’ home run, which hit the tip of his glove and fell into the stands.
But two fans were trying to corral the ball at the same moment, and the umpires eventually overturned the original home run call, prompting Shildt to voice his displeasure.
“There was no clear evidence that the fan impeded [Ramos’] ability to make a play, created a difference in how he moved and his actions, went over the fence—none of it was clear,” he said postgame, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell.
According to section 6.01(e) of the MLB rulebook, the hitter will be called out if a spectator reaches into the playing field and “plainly” prevents the fielder from catching the ball. It doesn’t matter if the fan makes contact with the ball or not for it to be considered interference.
If the interference occurred in the stands—that is, outside the field of play—the home run would have stood.
What made Shildt even angrier was the lengthy review process. He didn’t believe the play could be clear enough to overturn if the umpires spent such a long time looking at it. Then Shildt emerged from the dugout and was ejected.
“You tell 45,000 people and my dugout that,” he said. “… I know the rule and I don’t want to be ejected out of a game, but I also need to make a point when a point needs to be made.”
The Padres will try to snap a four-game losing streak tonight when they face the Giants again at 9:40 p.m. ET.
