ATLANTA -- Had Ronald Acuña Jr. known his cousin, Maikel Garcia, didn’t have the baseball when he touched second base while attempting to turn a double play during the fourth inning of a 6-2 Braves win on Saturday night, he might have gone directly to the second-base bag and possibly prevented some confusion.
But Acuña going directly to second base, instead of first veering into the infield grass, wouldn’t have necessarily given Braves manager Walt Weiss indication he should have appealed that Garcia threw the baseball to first base before touching second base to begin a double play.
“By the time I realized that Garcia hadn't touched the bag,” Weiss said, “it was too late to challenge.”
Shaded toward the middle of the infield with the left-handed hitting Drake Baldwin at the plate, Garcia fielded Baldwin’s grounder and then threw the ball before making contact with the second-base bag. Acuña briefly put his hands up in the air attempting to distract the throw. He then veered into the infield grass.
“I did it too quick,” Garcia said. “I thought Baldwin was faster, and I was moving too quickly. Thank God they didn’t challenge. It’s a play I’m not used to doing now that I’m playing third, but I have to be ready for those plays.”
Weiss thought the umpires might have ruled interference on Acuña. But he wasn’t the only one confused.
Second-base umpire Emil Jimenez didn’t see Garcia throw the ball before touching the bag. So, he asked crew chief Doug Eddings what he had seen from his view at third base.
“I wasn't sure if the second-base umpire called him out right away,” Weiss said. “So there was just a lot of confusion on that play. Then, it was too late to challenge.”
Acuña ran through the grass past second base before turning around to go back to the bag. So, he may have been ruled out, even if the umpires had realized Garcia threw prematurely.
“I was hoping [first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino] threw the ball back to second base because Acuña wasn’t anywhere near second base,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “But apparently they didn’t see it quickly enough to get it appealed,”