The controversial foul tip that put Rangers behind in the opener is not reviewable. Compensates for hem miscues

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim was going down to stop a low pitch when he heard the ball hit his bat and saw it change direction.

Home plate umpire Chad Fairchild didn’t hear or see the same thing in the ninth inning of the season opener for the defending World Series champions, and the Chicago Cubs had taken the lead on that controversial play at first Texas won 4-3 on Heim’s game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning Thursday night.

As soon as the ball rolled behind the plate, Hamm held his glove back in anticipation of receiving another ball from the umpire before realizing that it had not been called a foul. The All-Star and Gold Glove-winning catcher initially pitched his side to the umpire, and when he finally got the ball back, and pitcher Jose Leclerc was late trying to cover the plate, Michael Busch homered from second base. -2 was scored for the Cubs. lead.

“I think if I told you what I said there, I’d be in trouble, but I went to stop it, heard it hit the bat, changed direction. Obviously it’s strong. Noisy atmosphere, fans making noise. So (Fairchild) didn’t hear it,” said Heim, who took responsibility for allowing the run. “Just having to finish the play.”

Fairchild told a pool reporter after the game that he called it a swinging strike.

Asked if he had watched the rebroadcast, Fairchild said he had, but declined to talk about what he saw in it.

The umpire said, “Okay, I will stick to what I did on the field.” “If you have questions for it, I’m not going to talk about the video.”

Slow-motion replays appeared to show that pinch-hitter Miles Mastrobuoni made slight contact with his swing, but tipped balls are not subject to video review.

Leclerc, who walked Busch, was charged with a wild pitch. Heim was charged with a throwing error on his toss, which went past Leclerc and allowed another runner to advance from first to third base.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said, “Just do heads-up base running, taking advantage of a little confusion on the field.” “We stole a run right there.”

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, a former big league catcher, said Heim could not believe the umpire saw or heard anything like the foul tip.

“There is a lot of noise there. I’m sure he couldn’t hear a foul tip, we just couldn’t see it,” Bochy said. “Jonah, we just talked about it. He says it’s something that’s on me. The great thing is that he left it behind and achieved great success.

After pinch-hitter Travis Jankowski led the Rangers off the bench in the ninth with a tying homer, Heim obliterated his two-out liner in the 10th with the bases loaded into the right-center gap. Hamm was surrounded by his teammates on the field, while the crowd of 42,130 loudly celebrated the dramatic opening victory.

Everyone could see and hear him.

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