The Colorado Rockies on Saturday walked off the Washington Nationals with some help from the pitch clock.
With the score tied 7-7 in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Rockies managed to load the bases with no outs at Coors Field in Denver, Colo.
Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon worked a full count against Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan. But before Finnegan could deliver the payoff pitch, home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt awarded McMahon with an automatic ball given due to a pitch clock violation.
WALK-OFF PITCH CLOCK VIOLATION! pic.twitter.com/77Y0HiM6Nd
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 23, 2024
The Rockies won 8-7 and officially earned the first walk-off pitch clock violation in MLB history.
Finnegan’s pitch appeared to be high and would have likely been called a game-ending fourth ball anyway.
It’s also not surprising that Finnegan was the first pitch clock walk-off victim. He entered Saturday’s contest with eight total pitch clock violations this season, which was three more than any other pitcher in the majors.
Kyle Finnegan entered tonight’s game with a league-leading 8 pitch-clock violations. Next closest pitcher had 5. https://t.co/HluDIRynDV
— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) June 23, 2024
Given the sheer volume of MLB games in a season, it’s honestly a bit surprising that it took this long for such an ending to happen. MLB first instituted the pitch clock in 2023. All 30 teams went an entire season and a half before fans were able to witness a walk-off via pitch clock violation.
The Rockies seemed to finally get some good karma after being on the wrong side of an egregious call while facing the Dodgers earlier this week.
