Fans were hardly sympathetic to the San Diego Padres after Saturday’s controversial finish of their NLDS Game 1 matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Padres slugger Ty France hit a moonshot to left field with one out and a man on first in the top of the 9th inning that hit off the roof at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wis. What could have been a go-ahead home run or a foul ball ended up being the second out after it deflected into Jackson Chourio’s glove in left field (video here).
The stadium’s ground rules state that any ball that hits the roof, roof truss, or roof cables remains in play. If such a ball is caught, the batter is ruled out.
While speaking to reporters after the game, France sounded convinced that the ball had the juice to be a home run off his bat. He thought the biggest threat to such an outcome would be the foul pole and not the stadium’s roof.
“You would think that with all the technology and data and everything we have now, we’d be able to make a clear call on that. … That shouldn’t be an out,” France said.
Both France and Manny Machado pointed to modern baseball metrics such as exit velocity and launch angle that should be used to determine whether a ball would be a home run in such scenarios.
"You kind of know what's going to happen…the launch angle,they put it on the board you hit it 25 degrees, 380 at 108, HR at 30 ballparks out of 30. We should have the technology to have a better call"
— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) October 4, 2026
Manny Machado on France's non HR@FriarTerritory pic.twitter.com/hmi5LXX8y3
Several fans, however, pointed to the very same metrics to argue that France’s ball would have been an out had it stayed fair.
Even if that ball hit by Ty France didn’t hit the roof, it wasn’t getting out
— 𝐀𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 ♛ (@Igotburners) October 4, 2026
The only stadium it would’ve gone out in would’ve been Daikin Park in Houston pic.twitter.com/l6w7no5ZTU
Ty France hit the ball 105.3 mph and 49 degrees only homer with similar parameters in Statcast history was from Carlos Correa pic.twitter.com/ViLk21teSs
— Giannis Auntiegotapoodle (@TooMuchMortons_) October 4, 2026
For anyone watching the Padres/Brewers game… Baseball Savant says that Ty France batted ball was a homer in one stadium … Daikin Park in Houston. Take that for whatever it’s worth.
— Will Middlebrooks (@middlebrooks) October 4, 2026
The ball came off France’s bat with a 105.3-mph exit velocity at a 49-degree launch angle, which Statcast pegs would have only left the yard at Daikin Park, the Houston Astros’ stadium, which famously features a short porch in left field.
But that won’t stop Padres fans and players alike from feeling salty about the roof interfering with the play in the Brewers’ favor.
