St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt asked umpires to check Nick Castellanos' bat after he hit a grand slam in the second inning Wednesday at Great American Ball Park.
The four umpires huddled together next to home plate, then chatted with Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell. Castellanos walked out of the dugout with his bat and immediately handed it to crew chief Phil Cuzzi. There was a large chip at the top of the bat.
After chatting with the umpires, Castellanos handed the chipped bat to a fan sitting behind the Reds' dugout. The umpires initiated a rule check with the umpiring crew in New York to determine if the umpires could allow the home run to stand despite the chipped bat, which was allowed, according to an MLB official.
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The league's rulebook says, "the bat shall be a smooth, round stick," so Castellanos' bat was removed from the game for "safety reasons," according to the official. Castellanos hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat, too.
Following the rule check with the headsets, Cuzzi spoke with Shildt before running over to the Reds' dugout to speak with Castellanos and Bell. Castellanos appeared to ask who asked for the bat check during his conversation with the umpiring crew.
Jesse Winker, standing in the dugout, lightheartedly did a "get out of here" wave when the umpires returned to their positions to resume the second game of a doubleheader after a delay that lasted several minutes. Castellanos explained the situation to his teammates once he returned to the dugout.
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