The introduction of ABS challenges to MLB have created various firsts throughout the 2026 season. The first challenge? José Caballero. The first successful challenge? Francisco Alvarez. The first walk-off challenge? The Baltimore Orioles.
On Friday, we got the first challenge to get taken back then succeed anyway.
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That arrived in a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs, with Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales facing Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar in the seventh inning. With an 0-2 count, Thielbar went with an outside fastball for a called strike three.
Gonzales responded by raising his hand to his helmet as if to challenge the strike call, then walked away, accepting the strikeout. However, home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz accepted the challenge and refused to let Gonzales take it back.
The strike was then overturned, with replay determining the pitch was outside the zone by 1.3 inches.
Much of the friction with the ABS challenge system so far has been players being found to have challenged calls too late, so it’s fun to see the opposite problem develop.
It worked out for Nick Gonzales.
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
Gonzales went on to work an eight-pitch at-bat, eventually flying out to left field for the second out of the inning. No more runs were scored for the remainder of the game, giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 win.
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The victory improves the Pirates’ record to 8-5, keeping pace in a competitive NL Central, while the last-place Cubs fell to 6-7.
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