Ty France roof-robbed in Game 1, still can't save Padres

Brewers up 3-2, one out in the ninth, a runner on first and Ty France standing in as the go-ahead run. He hit it about as well as a man can hit a baseball.

Barstool Baseball

@StoolBaseball

Instead of a potential Go-Ahead Home Run in the 9th, Ty France’s ball hit the roof and was caught for the 2nd out

Jackson Chourio caught it, and that was the problem. The ground rules in Milwaukee say a ball that hits the roof, a truss or a cable over fair territory stays in play, and a fielder can catch it for an out. San Diego challenged whether the ball hit the cable in fair territory, the review confirmed it, and the Brewers closed out a 3-2 win and a 1-0 series lead. Trevor Megill, the guy on the mound, admitted he didn't even know that rule existed until the umpire explained it to him.

Nobody in either clubhouse tried to pretend the ball was staying in the park. The Brewers' own catcher was about as blunt as it gets.

Adam McCalvy

@AdamMcCalvy

William Contreras thinks it would have been a homer. “I think if that ball doesn’t hit there, it might break the glass of X-Golf.”

France didn't fight the call itself. The Padres didn't dispute that the umpires applied the rule correctly. What France and Manny Machado went after was the rule, which in 2026 still lets a piece of ballpark hardware turn a 9th-inning bomb into a routine out.

Talkin' Baseball

@TalkinBaseball_

“You would think with all the technology we have now we’d be able to make a clear call on that. That shouldn’t be an out.” -Ty France on his ball off the roof

He has a point, and so did everyone who called it a fluke. By Sunday morning the Milwaukee beat had done the homework. This has happened before in that building, and the Brewers have been on the right side of it every time.

Adam McCalvy

@AdamMcCalvy

We found two other instances of a roof truss struck in fair territory at Miller Park/AmFam Field, and you’ll find them in our story. 1. Jayson Werth in G4 of the 2008 NLDS 2. Scooter Gennett in April 2018 All three times now, a Brewers defender has made the catch.

Then came Game 2, with the roof open. Per CBS Sports, the league made that call with the Brewers and the umpires because the forecast was great, upper 60s and light wind, not because of the roof ball. Still, France got his first crack under open sky and didn't waste it. Logan Henderson walked Machado with 2 outs and threw a wild pitch, and France singled him home for a 1-0 lead.

Talkin' Baseball

@TalkinBaseball_

Ty France gets some redemption from last night with a first inning RBI single!

While Game 2 was going, the broadcast added the best part of the whole saga. They had audio from the pregame lineup card exchange before Game 1, where the umpires went over the roof rule and Brewers third base coach Matt Erickson basically called his shot.

Jomboy Media

@JomboyMedia

Umpires and coaches discussed what happens if a ball were to hit the roof during the ground rules meeting pregame before Game 1 Brewers Third Base Coach Matt Erickson joked, "Haven't seen it here in six years, so it will happen tonight"

Talkin' Baseball@TalkinBaseball_

Padres thought they had a go-ahead home run but this was called an out even after review t.co/LCBUIhOd7u

He hadn't seen it in 6 years, so naturally it happened that night, and it decided the game. You can't write that. In the 7th, France got another one, an RBI single to right that scored Fernando Tatis Jr. and made it 3-1.

Barstool Baseball

@StoolBaseball

TY FRANCE INSURANCE

It should've been more. Sal Frelick threw out Machado at third on the same play to end the inning, and the Padres never added on. Milwaukee came back, and Jackson Chourio, the same guy who caught the roof ball, won it 4-3 with a bases-loaded walk-off single off Mason Miller in the 9th. The Brewers lead the best-of-5 series 2-0, France has done everything you could ask, and San Diego goes home for Game 3 Tuesday needing a win to stay alive. No roof at Petco to blame this time.