Ty France hit it to the moon. The only thing standing between the baseball, the heavens, and a San Diego Padres victory was the roof at American Family Field in Milwaukee, and an obscure ground rule that allowed Jackson Chourio to catch the baseball for an out.

The Padres were trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 in the ninth inning of Game 1 of their National League Division Series on Saturday when France launched a pitch from Trevor Megill 105 mph off the bat.

Oh. My. Goodness.

This ball hit by France looked to potentially be a go-ahead home run, but it hit the roof and was caught, and was ruled an out. pic.twitter.com/E6pnoausP7

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 4, 2026

Unfortunately for France, he launched the ball at an angle so steep, it hit a metal rail on the roof of the domed stadium in left field, and caromed back onto the field of play.

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If the ball had cleared the fence, it would have been a two-run home run and the Padres would have led 3-2. Instead, Chourio played the carom perfectly and caught the fly ball for an out.

San Diego manager Craig Stammen challenged the call, to no avail. Had the ball struck the roof in foul territory, it would have been dead on contact. The umpires ruled it fair.

I can’t remember a fly ball striking the roof cable at Miller Park/AmFam Field that deep. Might’ve saved a homer for the Brewers. Ground rule says this: pic.twitter.com/mawAbz3Y6w

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) October 4, 2026

Would it have been a home run?

Replays of the ball appeared to show it was still ascending when it hit the rail. However, the 49-degree launch angle on the baseball might have been too steep to carry the ball over the fence.

The fly ball would have only been a home run at one of the 30 MLB parks according to Statcast — Daikin Park in Houston, the shortest left-field wall in the big leagues.

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Balls that are hit at a similar launch angle and exit velocity typically are caught by the left fielder, anyway.

Yeah France’s ball is *probably* an F7 anyway? Almost all batted balls in that bucket over the last 7+ years are field outs, or foul balls.

Depending on the side spin it might have still been a foul ball and thus still quite the bad beat. Sheesh. Crazy play. https://t.co/Yg7dw9W1Ml pic.twitter.com/3qu5CuHb5a

— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinekyle) October 4, 2026

“We joked about it at the umpire meeting today, about what would happen if the ball hit the roof,” Stammen said after the game. “Unlikely, but it happened. They ruled that it hit the roof fair, and the outfielder caught it. So, unfortunately, it’s a bad break for us. Looked like it was a possible home run; just didn’t go our way.”

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