NEW YORK (AP) — Max Muncy couldn't believe his eyes when umpire Tripp Gibson called visual obstruction on the Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman, giving the New York Mets a run.
“It’s just a unique play that doesn’t usually happen," Muncy said Saturday, a day after the Dodgers' 7-5, 13-inning win in a rematch of last year's NL Championship Series.
With Los Angeles leading 3-1 in the fourth inning, Pete Alonso hit a 252-foot fly to Teoscar Hernández. The right fielder made a 91.6 mph throw on the fly to catcher Will Smith, who tagged the sliding Starling Marte as plate umpire Ryan Blakney signaled out.
Third base umpire Gibson called obstruction on Muncy, who was standing where the dirt met the infield grass, for blocking Marte's view of Hernández making the catch. Marte was ruled safe.
“For me on that play you have to be in the area because if he runs halfway and stops and the first baseman cuts it, you have to be at the bag to go to make a play,” Muncy said. “It’s not one of these things where in my head I was like: I've got to block his view. No, that wasn’t it. It was just you’re walking forward and you’re paying attention to the play and you just happened to be in his way.”
Gibson made a similar call in the 13th inning on Mets third baseman Brett Baty for obstructing Hernández's view of Andy Pages' fly to right fielder Juan Soto. That call got less attention because Soto threw to first to double up Hyeseong Kim as Hernández crossed the plate for a two-run lead.
“Never seen it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Two times in one game, two times too many.”
Major League Baseball said the call was type two obstruction under rule 6.01 (h).
Muncy spoke with Gibson about his decision.
“He said I was too intentional about getting in his way,” Muncy recalled. “My fightback was I’m 10 feet away from the bag. If I’m standing right next to him, it’s obviously obstruction, but I’m 10 feet away from the bag. There's no way that I could be blocking that view. He said: 'You have no business being in this area.' And I said: 'Well, if he cuts the ball, I’ve got to be there to make a play,' and he didn’t have anything to say about that."
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza also was surprised.
“That’s something that we’re going to have to follow up,” he said. "I've never seen this play being called like that. Honestly, as a former infielder, I did it a lot."
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Mets' Jeff McNeil, center, reacts after hitting a triple during the ninth inning of a baseball game to score Starling Marte and Pete Alonso against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, May 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets' Starling Marte, second from right, scores against Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, right, on a sacrifice fly hit by Pete Alonso during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's protesting university students on Sunday collected signatures throughout the country for their request for an early parliamentary election that they hope would oust the autocratic government of President Aleksandar Vucic from office.
Braving freezing weather, the students set up nearly 500 stands in dozens of cities, towns and villages in the Balkan country for residents to sign the election demand, which isn't a formal petition. Students have said that Sunday’s action was meant to put further pressure on Vucic and as a test of support.
Young protesters have been at the forefront of a nationwide movement against Vucic's populist rule in Serbia. More than a year of street protests first started in November 2024 after a train station disaster that killed 16 people.
The concrete canopy collapse in the northern city of Novi Sad was widely blamed on alleged rampant corruption and disregard of construction and safety rules during renovation work at the station. No one has been held responsible for the tragedy.
Vucic has refused to schedule an immediate early vote, but has suggested that it could be held sometime next year. Both parliamentary and presidential elections are otherwise due in 2027.
“We have stands that serve to connect with the citizens," said Igor Dojnov, a student manning one of the points in central Belgrade.
Youth-led protests during the past year have shaken Vucic more than ever during his 13-year-long tenure. Serbia's populist prime minister resigned in January, and Vucic later launched a crackdown on protesters that also drew international criticism.
While street protests have subsided, discontent with Vucic's government is believed to be widespread.
Milca Cankovic Kadijevic, a resident of Belgrade, said that she supported the students, because “I have a desire to live decently — me, my children and my grandchildren."
Vucic has formally promised to take Serbia into the European Union, but he has maintained close links with Russia and China, while facing accusations of clamping down on democratic freedoms and allowing corruption and organized crime to flourish.
He has denied this, and accused the protesters of attempting to orchestrate a “color revolution” under unspecified orders from the West. The term “color revolution” has been used to describe a series of mass protests at the beginning of the 21st century that sometimes led to the toppling of governments in the former Soviet Union states, the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Asia.
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
People stand in silence to commemorate the 16 victims, killed after a railway concrete canopy fell in Nov. 2024 while Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures throughout the country for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
