Rangers infielder Marcus Semien may need to consider finding a new place to put his batting gloves while running the bases.
During Thursday night’s ALCS Game 4 against the Astros, Semien was attempting to retreat back to first base to avoid getting doubled up after a hard line drive from Corey Seager was speared by first baseman José Abreu.
The two raced back to first base, and while it appeared at first glance that Semien had slid in safely, Houston challenged the call, and the ruling was reversed after it was determined that Abreu had successfully tagged the batting glove in Semien’s back pocket.
Replay review showed Abreu’s mitt making contact with the batting glove and causing it to move, resulting in the umpires ruling Semien out.
TAGGED HIM RIGHT IN THE BATTING GLOVE 😮pic.twitter.com/hx2NfjH49r
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 20, 2023
Out by the batting glove 😳 pic.twitter.com/aoXiPZRbYF
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 20, 2023
The bizarre double play cost Texas a potential scoring chance, as the team had runners on first and second at the time with no outs in the inning. Instead, unluckily, Seager hit into a wild double play, and Evan Carter lined out in the following at-bat.
Had Semien kept his batting gloves in an alternate location, he may well have avoided the tag from Abreu, but after reviewing the play, umpires deemed the contact was enough to reverse the call, making for one of the stranger outs of the 2023 postseason.
