MLB Ejection 177 - Chad Fairchild (2; Austin Romine)

The following ejection occurred on September 17, 2022: HP Umpire Chad Fairchild ejected Reds catcher Austin Romine (runner's interference no-call; QOCY) in the bottom of the 11th inning of the #Reds-#Cardinals game. With none out and the bases loaded, Cardinals batter Paul Goldschmidt hit a 1-2 splitter from Reds pitcher Fernando Cruz on the ground to center fielder Nick Senzel (playing in on the shift), who threw to home plate as Cardinals baserunner R3 Andrew Knizner attempted to score. Replays indicate the throw hit Knizner's left arm before bouncing away from catcher Romine; because the runner establishes their own base path and no tag attempt was being attempted at the time of the ball contacting the runner, who did not intentionally interfere with the thrown ball, the no-call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Cardinals had won the contest, 1-0, in 11 innings.

This is Chad Fairchild (4)'s 2nd ejection of 2022.

For scorekeeping purposes, this is logged as Ejection 177 despite occurring between Ejections 164 & 166.

*There is no base path violation pursuant to Official Baseball Rule 5.09(b)(1) governing base paths and out-of-the-base-path (three-foot) calls. There is no runner's lane violation because the runner's lane only applies at first base. This leaves the question as to whether or not the runner intentionally interfered with a thrown ball, as in OBR 5.09(b)(3), which is unlikely given that the throw did not yet exist as the runner established his running motion in fair territory between third base and home plate.

Refer to our September 18 analysis for further explanation.

Related Post: Cardinals Win When Reds' Throw Hits Runner - Legal? (9/18/22).

This is the 177th ejection report of the 2022 MLB regular season.

This is the 62nd player ejection of 2022. Prior to ejection, Romine was 0-4 (2 SO) in the contest.

This is Cincinnati's 5th ejection of 2022, 4th in the NL Central (CHC 10; PIT, STL 6; CIN 5; MIL 4).

This is Austin Romine's 1st ejection since August 24, 2017 (Dana DeMuth; QOC = U [Fighting]).

This is Chad Fairchild's 2nd ejection of 2022, 1st since Sept 11 (Max Scherzer; QOC = Y [Replay Review]).

Wrap: Cincinnati Reds vs St Louis Cardinals, 9/17/22 | Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Romine summarily tossed after Reds lose game on non-interference (STL/CIN)