It would surely happen once the MLB instituted its new rules. A team has won with a shot clock violation.
Specifically, the Colorado Rockies defeated the Washington Nationals 8-7 on Saturday because Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan was a second (or two) late throwing the ball to Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon with the count complete, the bases loaded and the game tied.
Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt called Finnegan for the infraction, issuing what is known in baseball Internet circles as a shrimp: a walk. McMahon even seemed to think he had struck out because he swung at Finnegan’s pitch, but seconds later he was getting showered with Gatorade.
Honestly, it shouldn’t be a big surprise that Finnegan was the pitcher who lost in a way no pitcher had ever lost before. The right-hander has been excellent this season, entering Saturday with a 1.72 ERA in 31 1/3 innings, but notes by Andrew Golden of the Washington Post who already had a league-leading eight shot clock violations this season.
The next closest pitcher had five.
The shot clock violation was the culmination of a Rockies comeback after Washington took a 7-5 lead in the top of the eighth inning. McMahon brought Colorado within one run with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth and Brenton Doyle tied the score with a single in the ninth inning that brought McMahon to the plate again.
The loss drops the Nationals’ record to 37-39, pushing them to 1.5 games behind the third wild card spot. As for the Rockies, they are still in last place in the NL West with a 27-50 record.
But now they can say they’ve done something no one else has done before.