During the bottom of the third inning of Wednesday night’s Cubs-Cardinals game, Miles Mikolas pretty much got away with cheating.
The Cardinals pitcher slapped a slow grounder to the left side, he took off to first base and would be safe as a throw from Cubs shortstop Javy Báez was low and second baseman David Bote couldn’t grab it as it went past him.
Once you watch the replay, you’ll see Mikolas reach down with his left hand and grab/push Bote’s arm as the ball comes in, which definitely interfered with him catching it.
The umpires missed it. Bote was pissed and so was Joe Maddon, who came out to argue but to no avail.
Per MLB rules:
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“If any member of the batting team (including the coaches) interferes with a fielder’s right of way to field a batted ball, the batter shall be declared out. If any member of the batting team (including the coaches) interferes with a fielder’s right of way to field a thrown ball, the runner on whom the play is being made shall be ruled out. In both cases, the ball will be declared dead and all runners must return to their last legally occupied base at the time of the interference.”
Fortunately for the Cubs, they got out of the jam and still won the game 2-0.
