Giants, Dodgers net victories on interference

Baseball sure is a crazy game, isn't it?

Entering Saturday, the last time a game had ended with a baserunner being struck by a batted ball was June 27, 2010. The Pirates lost to Oakland that day, after Pedro Alvarez was hit on the basepaths.

Well, it happened again in the ninth inning of Saturday's Giants win over the Angels. And then it happened again in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers beat the D-backs.

That's right. It took five years for that exact game-ending situation to arise. Then it took only about five more hours for it to arise once more.

Video: LAA@SF: Bochy on odd finish to Giants' win

In San Francisco, with the Giants leading 5-4 in the ninth, the Angels' Matt Joyce hit a rocket toward second base that struck Taylor Featherston as he tried to get out of the way.

"It's one of those freak baseball things," Featherston said. "He hit it on the screws, and I tried my best to get out of the way and couldn't do it."

The situation at Chavez Ravine played out slightly differently. Arizona's David Peralta hit a ground ball up the middle -- only to have it slightly nick Jordan Pacheco, who was running with the pitch. Pacheco never saw the baseball before it grazed his left foot and trickled into center field. The D-backs lost, 6-4.

Video: ARI@LAD: Ball deflects off baserunner, called out

Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick had to dive to his right and would have had a tough time getting the out at first. In San Francisco, meanwhile, it appeared the Giants' Joe Panik would have been in position to get the out at first.

But in both cases, neither second baseman even got the chance to do it themselves, thanks to rule 7.08, which states:

Any runner is out when he is touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball has touched or passed an infielder.

To top it all off, Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons was also hit with a ground ball while running the bases in Saturday's 8-4 Reds victory -- albeit not to end the game.

Three different runners in three different games were struck by a grounder while running the bases. To quote Vin Scully, as he called the strange final out of the game in Los Angeles, "Would you believe that?"