Sports

‘Rare’ obstruction ruling leaves Twins beffudled, upset after tough loss to Brewers

Published

12 hours ago

May 16, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins were left confused and disappointed Friday night as a potentially game-changing web gem instantly morphed into an unfortunate and rarely called overturn that cost them the game.

Correctly called by the umpiring crew at the top of the eighth inning, Major League Baseball rule 6.01(h)(2) regarding obstruction on the bases was enforced, and the Milwaukee Brewers rode it to a 3-2 victory over the Twins in front of an announced crowd of 24,309 at Target Field.

After believing they had cut the tying run at third base on a brilliant exchange between Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis, Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio was awarded home plate after umpires ruled Lewis obstructed the runner’s path back to the base.

Derek Shelton received his third ejection of the season in the aftermath, and Brewers cleanup man Jake Bauers followed by doubling in the go-ahead run off rookie reliever Andrew Morris, leaving the Twins stunned.

“It was pretty ridiculous,” said Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan, who received a no-decision after allowing a run and striking out seven over six innings. “I was a little confused on the ruling because (Chourio) was tagged out before he even slid into the foot when he had space to. And then it doesn’t make sense to me because he’s going back to the base. He’s out. He was out before he touched the base and touched the foot. I don’t get how you score there. It doesn’t make sense.”

Derek Shelton was ejected in the 8th inning after umpires ruled obstruction on Royce Lewis and awarded Jackson Chourio home. pic.twitter.com/CKofhCqUvJ

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) May 16, 2026

The rule is the result of a new point of emphasis that umpires employed before the 2024 season. Though few games are impacted by it, this one was in dramatic fashion.

Tasked to protect a one-run lead, Morris yielded consecutive singles to Chourio and Brice Turang to start the eighth inning, leaving runners on the corners. After Turang stole second base, the Twins had drawn in their infield. William Contreras hit a grounder directly to Lee, who saw Chourio leaning too far off third base and fired quickly to Lewis for an apparent out, well ahead of the runner sliding into the defender’s leg.

Though third-base ump — and crew chief — Jordan Baker signaled an out, he also quickly called over the other umpires to discuss the play. After a quick conference, obstruction was ruled, and Chourio, who retreated to third base on the play, was awarded home with the tying run.

The rule states: “If a play is being made on the obstructed runner, or if the batter-runner is obstructed before he touches first base, the ball is dead and all runners shall advance, without liability to be put out, to the bases they would have reached, in the umpire’s judgment, if there had been no obstruction. The obstructed runner shall be awarded at least one base beyond the base he had last legally touched before the obstruction. Any preceding runners, forced to advance by the award of bases as the penalty for obstruction, shall advance without liability to be put out.”

“It’s very rare,” Lewis said. “That won’t happen again, probably, this year. … Just a freak play that unfortunately didn’t go our way.”

Shelton immediately erupted after the overturn. Knowing the play couldn’t be reviewed by video because it occurred in front of the base, Shelton knew he didn’t have a winning argument. He let the umpiring crew have it anyway and was quickly ejected.

“It’s a reactionary play for Royce, where he’s just trying to get over there,” Shelton said. “And the fact that Chourio slides into his foot, with the entire rest of the base there, and he’s standing behind him, I think it’s a challenging call. If you’re going to call it, I think you have to call it immediately. You don’t get together and ask three other umpires that aren’t close to it. So, we had an out call there. … In defense of Jordan Baker, he’s standing behind him, and he can’t see that. That’s why it should be a reviewable play, in my opinion.”

In his opinion, Lee made a risky play by throwing behind Chourio. Lee was pleased with the execution, noting Chourio was “out by a decent bit.” But once the umpires began to confer, Lee suspected the Twins could be in trouble.

“It sucks, but I guess it’s an umpire’s discretion,” Lee said. “There’s nothing we can really do about it. It felt like Royce was backpedaling a little bit to get to the base. I felt like there’s nothing else he could do. Would have been great if they called him out. … It is what it is.”

What it did was lead to a trying loss for a Twins team trying to grab hold of recently gained momentum. Entering Friday, the Twins had won four of their previous six games, notching their first two series victories since mid-April.

Even after Bauers doubled in the go-ahead run, Morris and Anthony Banda held the score at 3-2, recording three outs without allowing either runner in scoring position to advance.

The Twins, who’d taken the lead in the seventh inning on a Lewis RBI single, put two men on with one out in the eighth inning. Then, Josh Bell grounded into a double play. Minnesota never recovered.

“We ran a great play,” Lewis said. “It happened so fast. It was one of those — it’s like, clearly I didn’t have intent to block the bag. I didn’t even know where I was. I was just looking to catch the ball from Brooks and make a play, and it was an unfortunate call.”

Sports

Jhonatan Narvaez claims second stage win of 2026 Giro d’Italia

Published

2 minutes ago

May 16, 2026

qasimgillani

Giro d’Italia stage 8 results

1. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3hrs 27mins 26secs

2. Andreas Leknessund (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +32secs

3. Martin Tjotta (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +42secs

4. Thomas Silva (Uru/XDS Astana) +44secs

5. Lorenzo Milesi (Ita/Movistar) same time

6. Christian Scaroni (Ita/XDS Astana) +48secs

7. Corbin Strong (Nzl/NSN Cycling) +55secs

8. Juan Pedro Lopez (Spa/Movistar) same time

9. Wout Poels (Ned/Unibet Rose Rockets) +58secs

10. Markel Beloki (Spa/EF Education – EasyPost) +1min

Giro d’Italia general classification results after stage 8

1. Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain-Victorious) 34hrs 28mins 42secs

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +3min 15secs

3. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon) +3min 34secs

4. Christian Scaroni (Ita/XDS Astana) +4min 18secs

5. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull – BORA) +4min 23secs

6. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull – BORA) +4min 28secs

7. Ben O’Connor (Aus/Team Jayco AlUla) +4min 32secs

8. Mathys Rondel (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +4min 56secs

9. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Netcompany Ineos) +5mins 7secs

10. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +5min 11secs

Sports

Mohamed Salah says Liverpool must return to “heavy metal” football

Published

12 minutes ago

May 16, 2026

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Salah, who announced his decision to leave Anfield in March, told reporters in December that his relationship with head coach Slot had broken down.

The winger, winner of a record four Premier League Golden Boot awards, scored 29 times in the 2024-25 Premier League as the Reds won the title in Slot’s first season in charge.

But he has been unable to match the heights of last term, finding the net just 12 times in 40 games across all competitions this season before his final game against Brentford next Sunday.

It was under previous manager Klopp that Liverpool were associated with “heavy metal” football – a term the German used to describe his high-energy, counter-pressing style of play.

“Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games,” Salah said.

“Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on.

“As I’ve always said, qualifying to next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”

Below Salah’s post, Liverpool team-mates Curtis Jones and Hugo Ekitike commented with applauding and handshake emojis respectively.

Reds defender Andrew Robertson, who will also leave the club this summer, wrote similarly on Instagram: “A performance which sums up our season. A long way short of the levels of this club and what you rightly expect of us.”

On a personal note, he added: “But I can only thank you for the last nine years of travelling up and down the country and all over the world packing out away ends wherever we go! Will see you next week for one last time.”

Former Feyenoord boss Slot has suggested the summer transfer window will be critical for him.

Speaking about supporter frustration after Friday’s defeat, he said: “I think then they are underestimating what a window can do, what a new start can do, and I think we know quite well what to improve.

“I think one of the things we have to improve is also very, very, very obvious, and I would have preferred not to talk about it here, but you’re actually almost forcing me to.

“If you miss nine players that can start a game of football, and almost all of them are starters for us or have been for large part of the season, then if you add that to what you can improve in a window and add that to players that are playing for the second season in the Premier League, that will automatically lead to much more.”

Sports

Women’s Super League: Why summers of change beckon for Arsenal and Chelsea

Published

19 minutes ago

May 16, 2026

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Chelsea entered Saturday sitting two points behind Arsenal and ended it in the same place.

By half-time of the fixtures on the final day it became apparent they had little to play for given Arsenal were already three up at Liverpool, eventually winning 3-1, with Alessia Russo scoring twice.

At Stamford Bridge meanwhile, Kerr marked her final appearance with a fine finish for the game’s only goal against Manchester United.

That goal was her 116th for the club, equaling Fran Kirby’s record for the most goals for Chelsea in all competitions.

Kerr, who has been linked with a move to the United States, said it has been the “biggest honour” to play for Chelsea.

“I have so many amazing memories and I will carry them with me forever,” she told Sky Sports. “Chelsea and London will always be home to me now.

“My little boy was born here and I have so many great friends at this amazing club. It’s going to be hard to leave but I only have good things to say about this amazing club.”

Arsenal have now got the better of Chelsea on two fronts this season, both knocking them out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals and preventing them reaching it automatically next year.

While being unable to catch City may leave a sour note for the Gunners, their league performance this season was better than last year as they picked up three more points across the campaign.

McCabe managed an assist in her last game for the club and expressed her joy at captaining the side for one last time before she departs.

“I was just enjoying every second of it,” she said. “My team talk was to go out and enjoy it and play the Arsenal way, play our football, and we certainly did it. We were playing with smiles on our faces. I’m just delighted I could end with a win.”

Both sides will rebuild in the summer, with Chelsea needing a striker to replace Kerr. They are favourites to sign Manchester City’s out-of-contract Khadija Shaw.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will likely seek squad depth to help them cope more easily with a cramped fixture schedule next season.

They too have been heavily linked with some big signings, including Bayern Munich and England midfielder Georgia Stanway and Barcelona full-back Ona Batlle.