Former outfielder turned analyst Ben Verlander claimed that upon reaching out to the league, MLB admitted that Merzel made a mistake in his ruling. The league shared an excerpt from the Umpire Manuel, revealing the definition of a fair ball.
“In our Umpire Manual, here is the definition of a fair ball,” said MLB. “FAIR BALL Definitions of Terms: When in contact with the ground, a ball must be in contact with fair territory and not merely over fair territory in order to be adjudged to be fair.”
In Verlander’s breakdown of the play, you can see in the clip that the ball did cross the foul line before Padres’ third baseman Ty France grabbed the ball. It’s really close to the line, but you can see the dirt in between the ball and the line, indicating that it should have been ruled a foul ball.
FAIR or FOUL ball?
The MLB rulebook answers… pic.twitter.com/eTzz9UhHyp
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) April 28, 2026
At the end of the day, the Padres managed to hold on for the win, and the foul ball saga with the Cubs didn’t end in a disaster. Had Chicago managed to score at least two more runs to tie the game, a legitimate problem could have been on our hands.
The Cubs and the Padres will face off again on Tuesday night. It is scheduled to begin at 9:40 p.m. EST in San Diego. It is the second contest of a three-game series.
The Monday night contest between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres that ended in a 9-7 victory for San Diego became the center of controversy in the top of the ninth inning after umpire Dan Merzel ruled a ball fair that appeared to be a foul. On Tuesday, MLB revealed what it found in its investigation.
