The Nationals’ Michael Morse was asked to mime a grand slam in the first inning of the Nationals-Cardinals game on Saturday after a call was overturned, leading to an odd, albeit hilarious, situation at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Morse hit a fly ball to right field with the bases loaded in the first inning off Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse. The ball bounced off the second wall in right field and back onto the field, so right fielder Carlos Beltran played it like a live ball. Beltran threw the ball into the infield, and second baseman Skip Schumaker chased down Morse and tagged him out. At that point, Morse would have been credited with an RBI single to put the Nats up 1-0.
The umpires decided to review the call and, after looking at replays, determined that the ball bounced into play after hitting the second wall, which is considered a home run.
The umpires re-set the runners on the bases, and they asked Morse to return to home plate (after touching first base on his way back) to mime a grand slam.
Morse happily obliged, and he was credited with his fourth career grand slam to give the Nats a 4-0 lead. Washington won the game 6-4 in 10 innings to reduce their magic number to clinch the NL East to one.
Even though it was odd seeing the umpires recreate the situation, the important thing is that they got the call right. The Nationals have been jobbed several times this year on bad calls by the umpires, but thanks to replay, this call was corrected.
