To quote the great @jon_bois:
1. You can't just be up there and just doin' a balk like that.
1a. A balk is when you
1b. Okay well listen. A balk is when you balk the
1c. Let me start over… pic.twitter.com/Y3j8yGxxaW— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) September 5, 2021
While the Giants were beneficiaries of baseball tomfoolery Friday night, they were on the losing end of a strange call on Saturday.
José Quintana, making his second appearance for San Francisco, balked in a run in the top of the sixth. The strange play added to the Dodgers’ early lead, giving them a 4-1 edge.
The runner on third, third baseman Justin Turner, likely shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Turner had reached on a grounder into deep short — scored an infield single — then advanced on Mauricio Dubón’s throwing error. Dubón, playing short to give Brandon Crawford a day off, sailed his throw so high that Brandon Belt didn’t even try to leap and keep it in play.
Turner then advanced from second to third on a wild pitch.
Then came the bizarre call. After Quintana’s first delivery to Corey Seager, the third base umpire stopped play, motioning toward the pitcher to indicate a balk. He lifted his arms up and down, possibly miming that Quintana double-pumped his glove after he came set.
But since Quintana is a lefty, it’s hard to imagine the third base ump had an unobstructed view.
You be the judge: did Quintana balk?