Baltimore Orioles right-hander Shane Baz refused to say much about a play involving Ernie Clement that changed the trajectory of his team's 6-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
"The only reason that I'm not going to talk about that play is because I will get fined," Baz told reporters postgame, including Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun.
In the sixth inning, Clement appeared to run out of the basepath as Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson attempted to tag him. Henderson then threw to first base to get Brandon Valenzuela.
The Blue Jays cut the Orioles' lead to 4-2 in the 6th on this groundout by Brandon Valenzuela.
— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) June 7, 2026
Manager Craig Albernaz and shortstop Gunnar Henderson both thought Ernie Clement was out of the basepath on the play and should have been ruled out.
However, the call was not changed. pic.twitter.com/lclaZffzeQ
Clement wasn't ruled out and subsequently came around to score, which contributed to a five-run inning for the Blue Jays.
Baz, who'd held the Blue Jays scoreless through five, was visibly upset at umpire Nic Lentz following the play. The pitcher departed the contest in the sixth inning after allowing five runs, with only one of them earned.
Here's Shane Baz, from masn cameras pic.twitter.com/dQpDk3Rys9
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) June 7, 2026
Following the game, Lentz explained why Clement wasn't ruled out.
"The runner has a right to establish his basepath," Lentz said, according to MLB.com's Jake Rill. "Clement had established his basepath to avoid the fielder from potential interference. And even though Henderson reached out for a tag, Clement's basepath was already established out there going to second base. So therefore, it was not out of the baseline."
Henderson was asked postgame about his tag attempt not resulting in an out.
"I'm not gonna go chase him to right field when I'm trying to turn a double play there," Henderson said, according to The Baltimore Banner's Andy Kostka. "He's only allotted so many feet to be considered in the baseline, and if you make a loop and slide to where you can't even reach second base in the next two steps, I don't really understand that. So, yeah, that was a new one for me, but yeah, that was definitely, I felt like, not a great call."
The Blue Jays took the series from the Orioles with Sunday's win, which also pushed them ahead of their division rival by one game in the standings.
