Braves play, lose playoff game under protest after controversial call

A controversial -- and potentially pivotal -- call in a one-game playoff Friday night between the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals prompted a vehement argument by the Braves' manager and fans to toss debris onto the field.

The incident occurred in the eighth inning of the newly introduced wild card baseball postseason game, in which the two teams battled for the right to advance to a National League division series.

At the time, St. Louis led Atlanta by a 6-3 score. With one out and runners on first and second base, Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons skied a pop-up to shallow left field.

Amid apparent confusion between two Cardinals' players, the ball dropped -- which could have led to the Braves loading the bases. But instead, an umpire ruled Simmons out, citing the infield fly rule. The rule is traditionally invoked on pop flies in the infield, in order to prevent fielders from letting a ball drop -- in order to get two outs instead of one, had they caught the ball.