Game’s over, take 2

“The game is over, and a Curly W is in the books!” Charlie Slowes said on the Washington Nationals’ radio broadcast late Tuesday night. “[ Shawn] Kelley strikes out [ Chase] d’Arnaud to end the game, and strand the bases loaded!”

At the same moment, Bob Carpenter was running through a similar routine on Mid- Atlantic Sports Network.

“All he has to do is step on home plate and the force out ends the game,” Carpenter said of catcher Matt Wieters. “Not tonight, Braves. They’ve been coming from behind, a lot of fun they’ve had on this home stand, but now the road trip’s off to a good start for the Nats. They beat the Braves, 3- 1.”

Carpenter threw it to a commecial. Slowes was ready to do the same. Except the umpires started conferring, and then they decided that the game- ending strike three was actually a foul tip, sending everyone back to their positions — with the bases loaded, and the tying run on second base.

“Because if you happened to watch a replay,” Dan Steinberg wrote for the Washington Post, “you would see Chase d’Arnaud waving helplessly at strike three, and missing it by the width of a Waffle House.”

“That’s not even close to a foul ball,” analyst F. P. Santangelo said on the MASN broadcast. “I just don’t know how this happens. … I don’t even think [ home plate umpire CB Bucknor] knows what town he’s in right now.”

Kelley got his strikeout on the next pitch, ending the game for sure and leading the broadcasts into their normal game- ending routines for a second time.