CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – OCTOBER 10: Yasmani Grandal #24 of the Chicago White Sox hits a two run home run in the third inning during game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros at Guaranteed Rate Field on October 10, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
Chicago White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal ran on the grass and got in the way of Houston Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel’s throw home.
MLB is having itself a night on Sunday, as evidenced by the confusion regarding the ground-rule double ruling up in Boston that prevented the Tampa Bay Rays from scoring a run in Game 3 of the ALDS. As it turns out, the Houston Astros-Chicago White Sox had it’s share of controversy. And let’s just say that Astros fans were not happy about it.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the White Sox extended their lead to 8-6 after catcher Yasmani Grandal reached on a fielder’s choice and outfielder Luis Robert scored at home. The issue is that Yuli Gurriel was attempting to make the throw home, but Grandal was running on the grass and blocked the baseball with his shoulder.
Even with that, the umpires assessed Gurriel a throwing error and Grandal was ruled safe at first.
Yuli Gurriel assessed throwing error despite Yasmani Grandal’s questionable base running
That was a brutal sequence of events that fell out of the favor of the Astros.
Things were not going Houston’s way since the bottom of the third inning. Their 5-1 lead turned into a 6-5 deficit at the end of the third frame, and matters only got worse in the fourth. White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu recorded an RBI single, Grandal reached on the fielders choice and Eloy Jimenez knocked in a run, giving Chicago a 9-6 lead entering the fifth.
The Rays had a bad Game 3 on Sunday evening, and the Astros told them to hold their beer.