There are not too many times baseball fans get to witness an MLB hitter called out for “abandonment” while attempting to safely reach first base.
On Thursday, the unusually rare put-out took place in the seventh inning of Kansas City’s matchup against Seattle.
Royals outfielder MJ Melendez made a sliding attempt to snag Seattle’s Dylan Moore sinking line drive into left field. Despite getting a glove on the ball, Melendez was unable to make the clean grab.
Under the impression that Melendez came up with the catch, Moore retreated back to his dugout after touching first base. With his teammates yelling for Melendez to throw it to first, the club’s left fielder fired the ball to Kansas City’s Matt Duffy after Moore ran back towards home plate.
According to the official scorer, Moore was immediately called out by first base umpire John Libka for “abandonment.” Rule 5.09 (b) (1) and (2) reads, “If a runner leaves his base path and heads for his dugout or his position believing that there is no further play, he may be declared out if the umpire judges the act of the runner to be considered abandoning his efforts to run the bases.“
You don't see a 7-3 putout every day! pic.twitter.com/lcZMpEgWoz
— MLB (@MLB) August 17, 2023
The Mariners were able to overcome the baserunning blunder, erasing a 4–2 deficit by scoring four runs over the final two innings to earn a 6–4 win. Still, Seattle’s 66th win of the season will be remembered for arguably the strangest recorded out of the entire 2023 season.
