Wednesday Wallpaper: The Catch That Wasn’t, Strasburg’s Unexpected Value, Giants Now Just One Back, The Most Bizarre End to a Game

David Brown of Big League Stew, and probably everyone else who has watched the replay of Dewayne Wise’s non-catch in the stands last night, has no idea what the third-base umpire was thinking.

[Mike] DiMuro didn’t even ask for Wise to show him the ball. He simply assumed he caught it and signaled as such. Wise, not about to argue his team out of an out, instead kept his glove closed, collected himself, and ran off the field — canary in mouth, if not ball in glove. . . . How do you not ask to see the ball? Major League Baseball better be asking DiMuro that question, over and over, in the coming days.

Replay, anyone?

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Stephen Strasburg’s pitching mastery has been discussed at length, but SB Nation’s Jeff Sullivan highlights the Nats pitcher’s batting prowess, pointing out that Strasburg has tallied more doubles (4) in a mere 25 plate appearances than Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak has in 287.

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Suddenly, the Giants are one game out of first place. In the wake of last night’s shutout of the hated Dodgers, a giddy Grant Brisbee of the McCovey Chronicles gives props to Ryan Vogelsong and Melky Cabrera.

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The video has now been removed, but the story about Raul Mondesi Jr.’s failure to touch home plate on what should have been a two-out, ninth-inning, game-tying home run remains a must-read. Stephen Borelli of USA Today has more details.

In case you were wondering, Raul Mondesi Jr. is indeed the son of Raul Mondesi. And yes, we are getting old.