BASEBALL fans have praised Chip Caray's on-air call after a crazy end to the Miami Marlins game with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Bally Sports Midwest announcer blasted the Cardinals for losing after a wild play handed the Marlins a walk-off MLB victory on Wednesday night.
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Caray is the lead announcer for the Cardinals on Bally Sports, who show every game live.
And the broadcast team could only watch on as relief pitcher Jordan Hicks looked to close out the win at the bottom of the 9th inning with St. Louis leading 9-8.
With one man out and two on base, Hicks sent a 1-2 fizzing fastball to the outside part of the plate.
Batter Joey Wendle tapped a feeble ground ball straight back to the front of the mound.
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Hicks gathered the ball cleanly, but his toss to first base was so wild it flew straight over a helpless Paul Goldschmidt.
As LoanDepot Park went crazy, both runners on base scampered around for an improbable walk-off win.
And in the broadcast booth, Caray laid into their ninth-inning disaster-class following a long silence to collect his thoughts.
He said: "In a season where the Cardinals have found so many ways to win, this might be the biggest dagger and the worst way possible to lose.
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"A comebacker with one out, Hicks fields the double clutch, and he airmailed it to first.
"The Marlins clear the bases and win it 10 to 9.
"We'll break it all down for you after this heartbreaking break."
The play was so bizarre, baseball fans flocked to social media to claim that game must be fixed.
One fan raged: "Games obviously fixed."
And a second added: "How much of a fixed finish was that? He tried to throw the ball into the crowd!"
Another said of Caray's call: "He’s putting incompetence into words. Can’t blame him. Good call."
While a fourth added: "Ahhh man that's a heartbreaking play to watch."
But a fifth fan countered: "[Caray] messed that call up, they haven’t found so many ways to win this season."
The Cardinals are enduring a dismal MLB season and currently sit in last place in the NL Central.
Their latest defeat drops them to 35-51 on the season, with three straight losses to the Marlins and six defeats in their past eight games.
Following the dramatic events on Wednesday, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker could scarcely believe the outcome.
He told reporters: "Our group, especially our hitting group, just preaches [to] put the ball in play.
"Sometimes, there's value to putting the ball in play. We hit into double plays, we get it. We understand where we're at.
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"We don't love doing that either. But there's value in putting the ball in play and not punching out.
"That's because we put the ball in play, and good things happen with the new rules - [however] you don't envision [the wild throw] happening."
