Another day, another teachable moment with baseball’s new sliding rule.
Arizona’s Phillip Gosselin slid into Padres shortstop Alexei Ramirez in the ninth inning of Friday night’s 3-2 loss to the Diamondbacks to break up a potential double play. Ramirez got the force at second, but didn’t attempt a throw to first base.
Gosselin’s slide brought Padres manager Andy Green out of the dugout for a discussion with the umpire about runner’s interference.
The so-called Chase Utley rule was created this season to protect fielders after Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada broke his leg on a slide by Utley in last year’s playoffs.