Cody Bellinger provided the Los Angeles Dodgers with their first walk-off win this season, but his home run in the ninth inning was a mere inches from only tying the game.
Already having hit a single and double, Jason Heyward lifted a fly ball down the left field line that carried just enough to clear the short fence and was ruled fair by third-base umpire DJ Reyburn.
But as Heyward rounded the bases, believing he had given the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning, Reyburn gathered with the umpiring crew. They overturned the call, which prompted Cubs manager David Ross to challenge it, though to no avail.
“Originally I thought the ball went around the pole,” Reyburn explained to a Dodgers spokesperson on behalf of a pool reporter. “I had doubts on the original call so I wanted to get together with the crew. Based on the information they gave me, I wanted to change it.”
Reyburn added the replay center confirmed the foul call, which to no surprise aligned with what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts saw.
“I thought it was foul. I was happy that they went back, kind of huddled up and said the official call was foul,” he said after the win. “So for it to be overturned, it had to be very clear as opposed to the initial home run call.
“I looked back, and they got it right, which is very fortunate.”
Dodgers snap home run streak
Home runs were firmly in the spotlight for the Dodgers on Saturday, and beyond Heyward’s drive overturned and Bellinger’s game-winner.
Julio Urias set the Cubs down in order in the first inning, which snapped a streak of the Dodgers allowing a home run in the opening frame in a franchise-record five consecutive games.
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