If you are a bottom-line person, the bottom line is that the Dodgers beat the National League Central Division last-place Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 5-3 at PNC Park on Tuesday night. But the truth of the matter is that it was neither a dominating nor pretty win. But here again, the bottom line is that they won.

Fortunately.

But the game most certainly could have gone the other way had it not been for a rare and unusual play in the bottom of the first inning.

With one out, Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who had returned from the 60-day injured list just this past Thursday, hit an opposite-field solo home run to right field off of Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler that just cleared the Clemente Wall just inside the right-field foul pole for a solo home run.

…or so he and everyone watching on TV thought.

Because the ball was extremely close to the foul pole, the Dodgers challenge the play, calling for a video replay.

…or so he and everyone watching on TV thought.

As it turns out, Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes and Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw – who weren’t even in the line-up – astutely noticed from the dugout that Hayes had failed to step on first base during his home run trot; a (very) clear violation of the rules.

“I saw him reach for the bag, but I was kind of more towards home plate, so I couldn’t really tell, but Austin and Clayton were more down at the end of the dugout, so they had a better vantage point,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame of the huge and rare play. “So those guys, Austin in particular, get credit for getting Chad Chop, the reply guy, on that one.

“That was a big play,” Roberts added. “I think that it allowed Walker to settle into that game and have an efficient first.”

Seriously? Here you’ve got a stadium (somewhat) full of fans and two dugouts full of players, coaches, trainers, and even video replay people, and Austin Barnes and Clayton Kershaw are the only two guys not watching to see if the ball was going to clear the famed Clemente Wall or if it was going to stay fair or go foul? Yeah, right.

“I think the thing with our guys is they watch the game. They use their eyes, and it’s good when you have not only talented players but smart players and guys that watch the baseball game,” Roberts answered when asked this (rhetorical) question. “So, it’s a credit to those guys that they’re watching the game and little things like that. So, not surprised, but it was a big play, a big catch by Barnsie.”

A big catch indeed. Instead of a 1-0 (or possibly more) first-inning, Buehler escaped unscathed and went on to pitch seven scoreless innings to earn his fifth win of the season (with no losses) while lowering his ERA to a team second-best 2.56 behind only Trevor Bauer‘s 2.40 ERA.

For you scorekeepers, the play was officially scored as a ‘Flyout 1-3.’

“It’s one of those things that Ke’ thought he caught the back corner of it, and he didn’t,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Hayes’ blunder. “If he even thinks he misses it, he has to go back and touch it.”

He did not.

As Maxwell Smart would say…

Play Ball!

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