WASHINGTON — It looked, for all too brief a second, like the seventh inning in Game 4 of the World Series was going to pass by harmlessly.
After walking Kyle Tucker to start the seventh, reliever Tanner Rainey faced a fateful situation as he delivered a 3-2 pitch to George Springer.
The ball appeared to grace the edge of the strike zone, high and inside, and then Yan Gomes popped up and fired to second well ahead of Tucker as he attempted a steal.
A strike-em-out-throw-em out, executed to perfection.
Except it was actually ball four to Springer, by umpire James Hoye's call.
The next batter, Jose Altuve, meekly flew out to right field, but then things unraveled from there. Two batters later, Houston's Alex Bregman cranked a no-doubt-about-it grand slam to left field, making it 8-1 Astros - the final scoreline as Houston brought the World Series even at 2-2.
Many fans looked back on that pivotal 3-2 call afterward.
It's hard to say they don't have an argument. Looking at MLB's own pitch tracker, it sure appears as if the sixth pitch of the at-bat against Springer touched the inside of the strike zone.
Even former MLB player Will Middlebrooks saw it that way.
Of course, it's not so simple as pointing to that potential double play and Altuve's subsequent flyout and saying that would've been the inning. For one, we can't entirely be certain Tucker would've been thrown out - Gomes' throw looked like it was solidly ahead of him, but he was also slowing down by the time he got to second, apparently seeing Springer had been walked.
And who knows, maybe a strike-em-out-throw-em-out would have inspired Altuve to get a hit instead of the weak fly to right, and the inning would have somehow turned out the same anyway.
It also might have gone differently if Rainey hadn't been pulled for Fernando Rodney, who allowed the single that loaded the bases and then the grand slam that made it 8-1.
Fans also questioned manager Dave Martinez's decision to turn to Rodney with the game on the line.
They call baseball a game of inches, and no inch was as important as the one that separated a ball from a strike on that 3-2 pitch to Springer.
Unfortunately for the Nationals, it cost them dearly in Saturday night's loss.