Moonshot in Milwaukee off cable joins list of weirdest postseason plays

There are some baseball plays that leave you speechless ... or even a little confused.

We saw that in Game 1 of the 2026 NLDS between the Brewers and Padres in Milwaukee. With the Padres trailing 3-2 in the ninth inning, San Diego's Ty France hit a towering fly ball that hit the roof of Milwaukee's American Family Field in fair play. The Brewers' Jackson Chourio camped under it to make the catch as it ricocheted down and, upon further review and based on the ballpark's rules, France was confirmed as out.

The data suggests that the ball wasn't going to leave the ballpark, but if it had, the Padres would have taken a 4-3 lead. Alas, the quirkiness of individual ballparks happened and the Brewers came away victorious.

Here are some of the notable head-scratchers in MLB playoff history, in reverse chronological order.

France's fly ball in Milwaukee
Padres at Brewers, 2026 NLDS Game 1

With the Padres trailing 3-2 in the ninth inning and a runner on first base, San Diego's Ty France hit a towering fly ball to left field. Off the bat, it looked like it possibly had the trajectory for a go-ahead homer. But the ball was hit so high that it hit the roof at Milwaukee's American Family Field and ricocheted down to the Brewers' Jackson Chourio, who secured the second out.

A replay review confirmed the call -- any ball that hits the roof in fair play is a live ball in Milwaukee -- and the Brewers secured the win shortly thereafter. It's worth noting that baseballs hit at that trajectory very rarely leave the yard. Under Statcast tracking (since 2015), only 10 over-the-wall home runs have occurred at a launch angle as high as France's (49 degrees). Nonetheless, it was a wild and wacky moment in an unforgettable series-opening game between these two clubs.

From near grand slam ... to double play
Dodgers @ Brewers, 2025 NLCS Game 1

It looked gone off the bat, or at the very least worth one run on a sac fly. But instead of a grand slam, the Dodgers came away with exactly zilch after some quick hands and even quicker thinking by the Brewers defenders. A leaping Sal Frelick got a glove on Max Muncy's drive over the center-field wall, but the ball bounced out of his glove and, importantly, off the wall before finally he corralled it and fired it into cut-off man Joey Ortiz. Unaware that he was now forced to run home, Teoscar Hernández lost precious time retreating to third base to unnecessarily tag up before sprinting to the plate.

Ortiz threw a seed to catcher William Contreras, who alertly planted one foot on the plate and reached for the throw, eschewing an attempt at a tag as Hernández was forced out. The two other Dodgers runners returned their original bases in all the confusion, and Contreras calmly jogged up the third-base line to register the forceout at third and complete a historic 8-6-2 double play, the first of its kind in postseason history. It went down in the box score as a 404-foot grounded-into-double-play. -- Andy Werle

Ball bounces off Renfroe and over wall, preventing run
Rays @ Red Sox, 2021 ALDS, Game 3

With their game and series tied in the top of the 13th, the Rays celebrated what appeared to be an easy run on a two-out gapper, but a bizarre bounce knocked the momentum away from them just as quickly. Kevin Kiermaier's scorcher caromed off the top of Fenway's right-center-field wall, and before Red Sox right fielder Hunter Renfroe could even react, the ball bounced off his hip and over the wall. Yandy Díaz, who was on first when the pitch was thrown and would've scored the go-ahead run standing up, was forced back to third because, as crew chief Sam Holbrook read from his Umpire Manual postgame, "'If a fair ball not in flight is deflected by a fielder and goes out of play, the award is two bases from the time of the pitch.'" The next batter struck out to end the frame and Boston walked off with a win moments later, then clinched the series the next night. -- Tom Vourtsis

Martin's throw hits Choo's bat
Rangers @ Blue Jays, 2015 ALDS Game 5

For a brief moment, this seemed like it could go down as one of baseball's all-time blunders before it was immediately overshadowed by one of baseball's all-time great moments. With a runner on third and two outs in the seventh inning of a tie game, Toronto backstop Russell Martin's throw back to the pitcher banged off the bat in hitter Shin-Soo Choo's outstretched hand and rolled away, allowing Rougned Odor to scamper home with the go-ahead run. Over 10 minutes of chaos and confusion ensued, with the run eventually allowed to stand.

It would have been an ignominious end to the Blue Jays' season, but then Texas made THREE consecutive errors to open the bottom of the inning, setting up José Bautista's seismic three-run homer and famous bat flip minutes later. -- Andy Werle

Middlebrooks called for obstruction, Cards walk off
Red Sox @ Cardinals, 2013 World Series Game 3

This play has a key factor in its favor that the others on this list don’t: It was a walk-off -- in the World Series, no less. The chaos started with runners on second and third and one out in the bottom of the ninth of a tied game. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, playing in on the grass, made an incredible diving stop on a ground ball and cut down the winning run at the plate. That’s when things really went haywire.

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia tried to turn it into a double play by catching trail runner Allen Craig at third, but his throw went wide, past a sprawling Will Middlebrooks. As the Red Sox third baseman tried to get up, his legs got tangled with Craig, who tripped while trying to run home. While Craig was thrown out at the plate, Middlebrooks was called for obstruction, which gave the Cardinals the run -- and the game. As players poured out onto the field, the Red Sox tried to argue their case, but to no avail. They got the last laugh, though, winning the next three games and the Series. -- Andrew Simon

Lo Duca’s double tag
Dodgers @ Mets, 2006 NLDS Game 1

The 2025 NLCS wasn’t the first time the Dodgers were on the short end of an unusual double play in the postseason. In Game 1 of the 2006 NLDS, Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca stopped Los Angeles’ second-inning rally cold with an incredible two-for-one at home plate, alertly tagging out a pair of runners in quick succession following an outfield relay. (You might remember Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk pulling off something similar against the Yankees in 1985.) The Dodgers would score just one run in the inning and went on to lose, 6-5, before dropping the next two games as well. -- Thomas Harrigan