An Arizona Diamondbacks fan was escorted out of Chase Field on Monday after he interfered with what was nearly a home run for Christian Koss.
The San Francisco Giants infielder hit a deep fly ball to center in the eighth inning that went all the way to the wall and appeared to be on track to give him a solo home run. That would have tied the game at the time, too.
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But as Diamondbacks outfielder Tim Tawa jumped to try to make the catch at the wall, a man in a red Diamondbacks shirt reached out and made the grab above Tawa with his own glove. The fan seemed to lose his balance while making the catch, but he caught himself before falling.
Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Tim Tawa tried to make a grab at the wall on Monday night, but a fan beat him to it. (AP/Rick Scuteri)
(AP)
Initially, it was ruled an out due to fan interference. But the Giants challenged the play, and it was later determined that there was no fan interference, as Tawa wasn’t actually in position to make the catch. The fan didn’t appear to make contact with Tawa, either, which helped back that argument up.
That led to Koss receiving a double instead of a home run, as the ball wasn’t quite on track to cross the outfield wall, and kept the tying run off the board.
After everything, the fan in question was escorted out of the stadium. Both Rafael Devers and Heliot Ramos then struck out after Koss, ending the inning and keeping the Diamondbacks out in front.
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Arizona added another run in the bottom of the inning after Eugenio Suárez hit a solo home run. That put the D-backs up by two and sealed the 4-2 win.
The victory snapped a four-game losing skid for the Diamondbacks, who were swept by the Miami Marlins over the weekend. They now sit at 42-42 on the season. The Giants, at 45-40, have also lost three straight and six of their past seven.
While the fan’s interaction undoubtedly altered the game in the moment, the ball was hit short of the wall, the Giants still had work to do to actually tie the game, and they missed an opportunity to drive in the game-tying run even after the incident.
