South Africa pulls off hidden ball trick for out, Nicaragua wins WBC Qualifiers opener

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — South Africa pulled off a hidden ball trick for an inning-ending out against Nicaragua in the opening game of World Baseball Classic qualifying.

Nicaragua went on to win the game 2-1 in 10 innings Friday.

The sleight of glove play by third baseman Anthony Phillips came in the seventh inning, right after Nicaragua’s Freddy Zamora had tagged up on a flyball and slid safely into third with two outs.

Justin Erasmus, the pitcher who had been backing up third base, then walked by Phillips and held open his glove, though the third baseman never actually gave up the ball.

There was a moment of confusion after Erasmus walked to the back of the mound, Zamora then took a few steps off third base and was tagged by Phillips. The runner eventually jogged home thinking that it was a balk, but umpires ruled that Zamaro was out after a lengthy discussion and replay review to keep the game tied at 1-1.

Zamaro had reached base with an RBI single that had tied the game. Ronald Rivera ended the game with his RBI single in the 10th.

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