‘Caught Stealing,’ but He Wasn’t Out

It was a play guaranteed to make statistic fanatics scratch their heads. Baltimore’s Phil Bradley was “caught stealing” Saturday night, on a play with neither a putout nor an assist.

Bradley was picked off first by Seattle pitcher Matt Young in the bottom of the third inning. He broke for second as Young threw the ball toward first, and Young’s pickoff attempt sailed high and beyond the reach of first baseman Alvin Davis, rolling to the front of the stands, where a fan grabbed the ball.

Bradley was awarded third on the play, but was charged with a caught stealing under rule 10.08 (h), which mandates such a ruling if a runner “is put out, or would have been put out by errorless play when he . . . (2) is picked off a base and tries to advance.”