As White tracked down the ball, the baserunners watched the play develop and after he caught it, Pendleton inadvertently ran past Sanders and by rule was automatically out. While Sanders was still standing between second and third, first baseman John Olerud received the cutoff throw from Roberto Alomar (they had tried to double off Pendleton, who was already out) and relayed it to third baseman Kelly Gruber, who began chasing Sanders back to second. Sanders dove back toward the bag as Gruber lunged at him to try and tag him to complete the triple play. Second base umpire Bob Davidson ruled that Sanders was able to return to the base, but Gruber protested that he had tagged Sanders on his foot before he could slide back in. The television replays backed up Gruber's case, as he appeared to clip Sanders' heel with his glove a split second before Sanders began his slide.