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Controversial Call Just Before Braves Walk-Off Earned Terry Francona Ejection

Francona could not believe an out call at second base was upheld after a challenge. In the same inning, the Braves walked the Reds off.

Josh Wilson

Francona disagreed heartily with the decision to uphold the call on the field
Francona disagreed heartily with the decision to uphold the call on the field / @TalkinBaseball_ on X (formerly Twitter)
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The Cincinnati Reds lost to the Atlanta Braves in 11 innings Thursday night off a walk-off single from Drake Baldwin that drove in Ozzie Albies. Just a few batters before the walk-off, the Reds had their final chance at the plate, and if you ask them, they had their opportunity cut short.

Designated hitter Blake Dunn attempted to steal second base and was called out on the field. Cincinnati challenged the call, hoping to have it overturned as they seemed to feel that either Dunn was safe and/or that Braves infielder Albies was blocking the bag.

Albies's knee appeared to overlap the first-base edge of second base as he went to apply the tag. Meanwhile, it looked like Dunn may have overslid and lost contact with the bag at some point. Dunn's helmet flew off, making replay footage somewhat difficult to review with any certainty. To overturn a call, clear and conclusive video evidence is needed.

Reds coaches started dropping like flies after the play. First was the first base coach, Collin Cowgill, who let his displeasure be known after the call. Then, the Reds challenged the call, and upon news of the call standing, manager Terry Francona came out and expressed his negative feelings as well.

See videos of what led to those ejections here:

Francona was ejected, but not after a slightly confusing moment where he didn't actually realize he had been ejected, and the umpire had to walk to the dugout to ask him to leave:

With the loss, Cincinnati fell just below .500 at 19–20, 3.5 games back in the tight NL Central. Atlanta, meanwhile, is 18–19 and 5.5 games back in the NL East.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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