It won’t go down as an error, but Darin Ruf’s third-inning miscue in left field sure didn’t look pretty.
With the bases loaded in the third inning, Francisco Lindor lofted an Alex Cobb sinker down the left field line. Ruf sprinted to try to make a play on it, but overran the ball. It dropped in for a fair ball and a two-run ground rule double.
Ruf ended up in the first row. Fans pushed his back to help him find his footing.
Lindor’s double left his bat at 84.7 mph at a 50-degree launch angle. Those two factors added up to a .010 expected batting average.
Ruf’s misplay tied the game up at 2-2, neutralizing Brandon Crawford’s two-run home run in the second inning. Pete Alonso, the very next batter after Lindor, torched a three-run homer into left field to break the game open.
Had Ruf made the catch, Cobb and the Giants would’ve been out of the inning with a lead.
