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One of baseball’s oddest situations led to a controversial out call at first base in Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the Los Angeles Angels and New York Mets.
Mets star outfielder Juan Soto grounded a ball to first base when Nolan Schanuel, and the fielder had the ball stuck in the webbing of his glove — the oddity in question.
Schanuel was trying to turn a double play, but after realizing he couldn’t get the ball out of his glove, he decided to try to get Soto at first base to ensure an out.
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Juan Soto of the New York Mets reacts after hitting an RBI single during the fifth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day at Citi Field in New York City on March 26, 2026. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
However, Soto was booking it down the first base line, and Schanuel was forced to flip the glove, ball still in the webbing, to pitcher Jack Kochanowicz covering the bag. It was a very close play, but the umpire signaled that Soto was out despite the madness that transpired across just a few seconds in the top of the third inning.
But while Soto believed he was safe in general, the Mets bench was screaming toward the field that Kochanowicz never fully secured Schanuel’s glove, bobbling it as Soto crossed first base.
No one would’ve blamed Mets manager Carlos Mendoza for challenging the call on the field, but he told umpires to keep going — an interesting move considering what happened just the game prior on Saturday night.
Mendoza was criticized for not challenging a call in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Angels, which may have seen a different result considering a decisive run was scored by Los Angeles.
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New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza returns to the dugout after a pitching change during the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field in New York City on April 29, 2026. (Heather Khalifa/Getty Images)
As Jo Adell lined a hit to right-center field in the bottom of the first inning with two outs, Mets right fielder Austin Slater threw a seed to Bo Bichette at third base, and he tagged out Jorge Soler to end the inning. But even more important, Bichette’s tag on Soler was placed before the run scored for the Angels on the replay.
But Mendoza never challenged the call, and it ultimately hurt his team in the end.
“[The replay room] missed it,” Mendoza told reporters after the game when asked about not challenging. “We called, and he missed it. [Replay analyst] Harrison [Friedland] is one of the best at his job, and, you know, obviously it ends up being a big play when you lose by one run.
“I also think we had chances, and we didn’t cash in.”
Luckily for the Mets, this failure to challenge didn’t hurt them in the end, defeating the Angels, 5-1, to get to 12-22 on the season.
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel runs to second base in the first inning against the New York Mets at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., on May 2, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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It’s been a rough start to the 2026 campaign for New York, a team many expected to vie for a playoff spot. Instead, they have endured a 12-game losing streak recently and are now fighting to get back to at least .500.
The Mets need some things on the diamond to go their way, but failure to challenge reviewable plays like these is a way they could get momentum tipping in their favor.
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