Roof Cable Turns Ty France Home Run Into Out as Brewers Take NLDS Game 1

Ty France's ninth-inning drive hit a roof cable in fair territory at American Family Field, and MLB ground rules made it a live ball that Jackson Chourio caught for an out.

Milwaukee took Game 1 of its National League Division Series against San Diego, but the opener will be remembered for an unusual ninth-inning play. A drive by Padres first baseman Ty France that looked like a go-ahead home run instead ended as an out after it hit a cable hanging from the roof at American Family Field.

The stakes were real when France stepped in during the top of the ninth. Milwaukee led 3-2 with a runner on base, and a ball over the fence would have flipped the score and sent San Diego into the bottom of the ninth with the lead.

Facing reliever Trevor Megill, France got hold of a fastball and sent it deep toward left field. For a moment it tracked as if it might clear the fence, but the ball struck one of the cables above the field, lost its carry, and dropped back toward the grass, where Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio camped under it and made the catch.

San Diego challenged the call, sending the play to review. After examining the replays, the umpires confirmed the original ruling: France was out, and the Padres' ninth-inning threat ended there.

The decision rested on ground rules specific to the Milwaukee ballpark. Major League Baseball leaves such situations to each stadium's own regulations, and at American Family Field a batted ball that makes contact with the roof, a roof truss or a roof cable over fair territory stays live. A catch on that ball retires the batter, with runners free to advance at their own risk, while the same contact over foul territory makes the ball dead.

The review established that France's drive made contact with the cable over fair territory, which kept the ball in play and made Chourio's grab a legal catch. Under the letter of the ground rules, the umpires' confirmation left San Diego with nothing to dispute beyond plain bad luck.

Padres manager Craig Stammen acknowledged as much afterward. Speaking to reporters, in comments relayed by CBS, he said the team had joked about the scenario at that day's umpire meeting, never imagining it would actually happen. "Unfortunately a bad break for us. Looked like it was a possible home run. Just didn't go our way," Stammen said. He added that it was the second time this year the same kind of play had gone against the Padres and said the club should "bounce back just fine from it."

Whether the drive would have been a home run at all is its own open question. A ball-path graphic that circulated after the play indicated the ball would have cleared the walls in only one major league park: Daikin Park, the Astros' home in Houston. In other words, even without the cable, France's shot may never have been gone.

Next on the Global Sportscast calendar: Belgium visits France on Monday, October 5 at 2:45 PM EDT at Stade de France.