Red Sox-Braves training game ends in tie due to pitch clock violation

Saturday’s Grapefruit League contest between the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox featured a chaotic ending that was the first of its kind in MLB history.

Cal Conley doesn’t get in the box with 8 seconds left on the pitch clock and gets the automatic strike.

He strikes out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth with 2 out.

pic.twitter.com/lFpCqcXA7I

— Sportsbook Review (@SBRReview) February 25, 2023

Batting with the bases loaded and a full count in the bottom of the ninth of a 6-6 game, Braves second baseman Cal Conley was assessed an automatic strike after taking too long to get set in the batter’s box.

The call resulted in a game-ending pitch-clock violation strikeout.

New MLB rules give pitchers 20 seconds to deliver a pitch with runners on base. But batters have just eight seconds, whether there are base runners or not, to get set.

If pitchers do not oblige, a ball is called. If hitters don’t, it’s a strike. Since Conley was not ready, strike three was called, and the game ended in a tie after nine innings.

While tightening the pace of play is necessary for the sport, doing so at the expense of the literal ending of the game might be just a stretch.

More on this topic:

Braves bring back Jorge Soler in a swap deal with Giants

“The umpire said I was looking down. I was looking down at the catcher as he was standing up,” Conley said afterwards. “Not really sure if the pitcher was ready to go, (but) catcher (Elih Marrero) definitely wasn’t.”

Braves manager Brian Snitker saw it as a teachable moment for everyone as they continue getting used to the new rules.

“You’ve got to forget about (what the catcher’s doing), you better be attentive to the pitcher, like the rule says,” Snitker said.

“And that’s distracting. That’s something, heck, we might try it. … I don’t think they were intentionally trying to do it, but it worked.”

Friday’s spring action featured the first use of the pitch clock, among other new rules, in a game between MLB teams.

San Diego Padres star Manny Machado was assessed the first auto strike in big-league history during his first at-bat of the spring.

Now that we got our first look at the pitch clock, we see our first clock infraction

Manny Machado started off his at-bat, 0-1 because he took too long to get into the box pic.twitter.com/pUcAdyZAkx

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 24, 2023

Last season, Major League games lasted three hours and three minutes on average, and the average length hasn’t been under three hours since 2015 (2:56). You have to go back to 1978 for the last time the average game took less than 2½ hours.