Fact Check: Should Giants have been penalized for too many mound visits vs Astros? Cheating claims examined

The San Francisco Giants shut out the Houston Astros yesterday as their early-season woes continued. The final score of the game was 2-0 as the Astros couldn't get anything going. One fan believes there might have been a little bit of foul play.

Davis Caruthers tweeted:

"I’m confused as to why the Giants got 3 mound visits in the 9th when they had 2 remaining. Yordan should’ve probably gotten an automatic ball which would’ve put him on but whatever. Go out and win tomorrow."

From this fan's perspective, the Giants violated the rules. MLB rules state that a team can use five mound visits per game and an extra one per extra inning played. They can use these at their own discretion, but they can't use any more than they're allotted.

---

Did the San Francisco Giants violate a rule against the Houston Astros?

It's unclear whether or not the Giants violated the rule. It's possible that they did. However, the penalty likely wouldn't have been an automatic ball granted to Yordan Alvarez. The penalty is an ejection by the coach or player who initiated the visit per Baseball Rules Academy:

"In circumstances in which a team is forced to make an unintended pitching change by operation of this Rule, and there is no relief pitcher warming up in the bullpen, the manager or coach who violated the Rule by exceeding his team's allotted number of mound visits shall be subject to ejection from the game."

Were the Astros cheated?

This would have theoretically resulted in an ejection, but it wouldn't have changed the plate appearance and it wouldn't have given Houston an advantage in the ninth inning.