This is a brutal way to lose a baseball game. It’s also a terribly stupid way to lose a baseball game. Watch closely because I bet you’ve never seen anything like this before.

Trailing the Missoula Osprey 2-0 in the bottom of the 10th, with one on and two out, Helena Brewer Raul Mondesi Jr. cranked what would have been a game-tying homer over the left field fence.

After Mondesi crossed home plate — or did he — and was greeted by celebratory teammates, Osprey pitcher Dexter Price flipped the ball to catcher Michael Perez, who stepped on home for an appeal.

The home plate umpire raised and pumped his right fist, signifying that Mondesi had missed the plate and was out, ending the game in a 2-1 win for Missoula.

Mondesi was officially credited with a triple.

“Did he miss home plate? You tell me, because I don’t know, I didn’t see it,” said Helena manager Jeff Isom, on his way back to the clubhouse, after a long discussion with the umpire.

“On any home run, the umpire has one job, and that’s to watch the plate and make sure the runners touch it. He said he (Mondesi) missed it by eight inches.”

You’ve got to credit Perez for paying attention and making the heads-up call to appeal the play, but mostly, you’ve got to feel for Mondesi for turning in an all-time blooper. He’ll never, ever live this down.

[H/T: Deadspin]