Sal Frelick’s unbelievable play goes down as one of rarest in MLB history

The Milwaukee Brewers fell by a score of 2-1 in last night's Game 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but that score would have been much more lopsided if not for one incredible play by the Brewers' defense.

If you tuned in to last night's game or have any connection to the game of baseball, you have likely already seen the incredible double play turned by Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz, and William Contreras. If not, take a moment to watch the following clip, and try to understand exactly what happened on your first watch through. If you can, you have a leg up on the American Family Field crowd from last night's game, which was absolutely perplexed by what they saw unfold before their eyes.

Just your typical 400-foot 8-6-2 double play. What's so difficult to understand?

In all seriousness, there's a lot going on in this play. It starts with Frelick robbing Max Muncy of what would have been a crushing grand slam in the fourth inning of last night's game. A scoreless game at the time with Blake Snell cruising through the Brewers' lineup, a four-run deficit would have essentially sealed the game before it reached the halfway point.

Then, instead of Frelick making a clean catch on the towering fly ball, it bounces out of his glove and hits the wall before the Brewers' center fielder secures it once again. The fact that it hit the wall is necessary, as it changes the play from a catch to a live ball. With the bases loaded, that means there was a force out available at home plate, which both Ortiz and Contreras somehow realized in the mayhem of it all. The Brewers' catcher then noticed that Will Smith wasn't running to third base, evidently believing that Frelick caught the ball cleanly, and promptly ran to the bag to secure the double-play.

The key, however, and the fact that Teoscar Hernández was out at home plate, was a lack of understanding of the rules. See, once Frelick touches the baseball, whether he ends up catching it cleanly or not, that's the moment that Hernández can tag up. The Dodgers' outfielder instead ran back to third base after Frelick secured the ball, which is the reason that the ball beat him to the plate, kicking off one of the rarest plays in MLB history.

MLB statistician points out just how rare Sal Frelick's unbelievable play really was

At the time of the play, it felt like a huge momentum swing for the Brewers. Not only did they take four runs off the board, but the Dodgers' ineptitude felt like it would give Milwaukee the edge for the rest of the game. While Los Angeles ended up pulling out the win in the end, the game was completely different because of the rare double play kicked off by Sal Frelick.

Just how rare was the play? MLB.com's expert statistician Sarah Langs, who is constantly answering questions just like this with her unmatched research skills, provided some context for the unbelievable play with the following two posts on the social media platform X last night.

The first 8-6-2 double play in the last 35 postseasons and the longest ever "Grounded into a double play" in the box score following a robbed grand slam in the NLCS? That's a once-in-a-lifetime type play right there.

There's an old adage in baseball that you see something knew every time you watch the game, and that was certainly the case for those who tuned in for the Brewers and Dodgers' NLCS matchup last night. While the outcome of the game wasn't the one that Brewers fans were hoping for, they won't soon forget the Frelick-Ortiz-Contreras 8-6-2 double play from Game 1 of the 2025 NLCS.