A ball thrown from the stands causes moment of confusion in Braves-Giants game

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This article was published 07/06/2025 (475 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An overexuberant fan had people seeing double during the game between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants.

A ball was thrown on the field from the stands on a sacrifice fly by the Braves in the fourth inning Friday night, leading to a brief moment of confusion with two balls on the field at once.

The play in question came with the bases loaded and one out when Sean Murphy hit a line out to right field. Matt Olson easily beat Mike Yastrzemski’s one-hop throw home for Atlanta’s first run of the game.

But just as catcher Patrick Bailey was receiving the throw from Yastrzemski, another ball bounced toward the pitcher’s mound after apparently being thrown on the field from the upper deck.

The umpires briefly met to discuss the play, but no change was made as the extra ball didn’t impact the play.

“That’s a first,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said after the game. “I’ve never seen that before. I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know what the rule is. I think everybody was a little surprised by it. It didn’t affect the play, but it was extremely odd to see another baseball come on the field.”

The Giants won the game 5-4 in 10 innings.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb