A fan robbed the Rockies of a walk-off HR by interfering with the Mariners' Dylan Moore on a wild 9th-inning play
It’s been a rough go thus far for the Colorado Rockies. And when you’re a bad team, even winnable games find a way to slip away. But on Sunday, that nearly happened at the hands of a Rockies fan in the worst way.
With Jacob Stallings at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning and two outs in a scoreless game, it appeared that the Rockies catcher either hit a walk-off home run or at least a double as the ball bounced back into play.
There was some confusion as to what the ball hit, but upon replay review, it was clear that a fan got in the way of Dylan Moore’s attempt to catch the ball in left field.
Jacob Stallings' potential bottom-of-the-ninth walk-off HR for the Rockies was eventually ruled an out due to fan interference. Here's that play as it happened. pic.twitter.com/3xHXri6e9J
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) April 21, 2024
Now, the Mariners broadcast actually thought it was going to be ruled a home run after review because it looked like Moore wasn’t catching that ball regardless of the fan’s contact.
Mariners' broadcasters Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers were quite convinced the review of this play wouldn't go this way. "This ballgame is over. There's no case to be made for the fan interfering with Dylan, is there?" "I don't think so." https://t.co/7sm9VJ1asz pic.twitter.com/OpXww3DThI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2024
But the key to all this was that the fan reached over the wall and into the field of play while making contact with Moore. Had the fan not reached his glove over the plane of the fence, the contact wouldn’t have mattered.
And then, the ruling and the Seattle booth reaction. "Whoa! Whoa! They ruled that he interfered with Dylan Moore. That fan just cost the Rockies a win." pic.twitter.com/VwYR5EQuOa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2024
So, at the time, it seemed like the fan — who was escorted away from that spot — took away a walk-off homer and win from Colorado. The Rockies, though, were able to respond in the 10th inning and come away with a 2-1 win.
But could you imagine if the Mariners had won? The Rockies would’ve had a tough time getting over that one.