Bad infield fly rule call mars Cardinals victory over Braves in NL wild card game

It only took eight innings for baseball's umpires to register the worst call of the postseason and the Atlanta Braves paid a big price for it in their 6-3 National League wild card loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

With one out in the eighth inning and runners on first and second, Atlanta's Andrelton Simmons hit a fly ball to left field. The ball dropped in between backpedaling shortstop Pete Korzma and left fielder Matt Holliday and it looked as if the Braves would have the bases loaded with one out to stage a rally from their three-run deficit. Left field umpire Sam Holbrook, however, made a delayed infield fly rule call, despite the ball landing at least 60 feet from the infield dirt. The call ruled Simmons out for the second out of the inning and an angry Turner Field crowd responded by showering the field with garbage.

Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez used the 18-minute delay that followed to put the game under protest. It's unlikely, however, that Major League Baseball will overturn the call because infield fly is strictly a judgment call. There is no distance mentioned in the infield fly rule language and an umpire must only determine that an infielder could have caught the ball with an ordinary effort.

Here's the MLB rulebook:

An infield fly is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.

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