Jason Heyward did not see where the ball landed.
Chicago Cubs manager David Ross thought it appeared Heyward hit a home run from his vantage point in the visitors’ dugout on the first-base side at Dodger Stadium. Heyward had tagged Los Angeles Dodgers lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger, connecting for an opposite-field hit that snuck inside the left-field foul pole. Third-base umpire D.J. Reyburn, in a crouched position along the foul line just past the infield dirt, immediately ruled it a fair ball and twirled his right index finger to indicate a home run.
Heyward completed his trot around the bases for a solo homer, seemingly giving the Cubs a one-run lead in the seventh inning Saturday night. But after a conference among the umpires, it was ruled a foul ball on the field. Ross requested a boundaries check to determine whether it was fair, but the call stood after a 1 minute, 50 second replay review to keep the game tied 2-2.
“Originally I thought the ball went around the pole,” Reyburn told a pool reporter after the game. “I had doubts on the original call, so I wanted to get together with the crew. Based on the information they gave me, I wanted to change it.”
The changed call proved costly. Instead of the Cubs turning a lead over to their best relievers, their final seven hitters were retired before Cody Bellinger hit a two-out, walk-off home run in the ninth off right-hander Keegan Thompson to hand the Cubs a 3-2 loss.
“All we can do at that point is trust in the (replay) video,” Ross said. “A really good baseball game, to be honest with you. It was two back-to-back great baseball games. They’ve come out ahead. We’ll do some little things here and there, push one more run across and just couldn’t tonight, but really nice, good baseball game. I’m proud of the guys.”
Heyward had not yet seen a replay of his overturned home run when he spoke after the game.
“There were shadows over there, I think it was kind of tough for all of us,” Heyward said. “I don’t think anyone knew for sure until they said it was a foul ball, replay-wise, but we still couldn’t say, all right, we 100% know it’s not.
“Yeah, you’d like to go up right there and give us an advantage, but we did a great job fighting.”
After coming out of the dugout and returning to the batter’s box to resume his at-bat against Cleavinger, Heyward took the next pitch to center field for a single. With his three hits Saturday, Heyward is 7-for-9 in the series.
“Just trying to relax and keep it simple as possible,” Heyward said of his hot stretch. “Just give 100% of what I have on every single pitch and just gradually allowed me to see the ball in the zone and be aggressive no matter what happens. Obviously it’s nice to get some results, broken bat or not.”
Right-hander Alec Mills skirted around trouble throughout his four-inning start. The Dodgers’ first three hitters of the game reached, quickly giving them a 2-0 lead. They would be the only runs Mills allowed despite surrendering eight hits and issuing two walks.
“I obviously didn’t have my best stuff today,” Mills said. “Kind of was in and out of knowing where it was going, to be honest with you. But for me, it was big to just go out and get outs when I needed them.”
Willson Contreras’ arm twice provided a lift for Mills. The catcher threw out Chris Taylor trying to steal third base in the second inning and again got Taylor at third in the fourth. The latter saved a run — Dodgers starter Julio Urías connected on the next pitch from Mills.
Ross indicated to Contreras before the Urías at-bat that he could call a pitchout and take a shot at picking off Taylor. Once Mills went ahead 0-2 against Urías, he went for it and nabbed Taylor.
“I mean, that’s all the credit to (Contreras),” Ross said. “Anytime you can do that, especially when you have an open lane as a catcher, it’s a nice to have a free spot to throw. Any time you can do that, that holds a runner and making sure they don’t get too aggressive down there.”
Anthony Rizzo’s 10th homer of the season to lead off the fourth cut the Dodgers’ lead in half. Ian Happ’s pinch-hit double in the fifth tied the game.
Sign up for alerts on your phone, desktop and inbox to stay current with the latest news
Sign up for our sports newsletter, delivered daily each morning