Baseball, by the Rules
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A Line Drive to the Outfield is Caught
The batter hits a line drive that’s hard enough to get past the infield— but alas, the ball is hit right to an outfielder, and that outfielder makes an easy catch. Well, maybe it’s not easy1, but as long as the ball is caught before it touches the ground, it doesn’t matter how easy or hard the catch was: the batter is out.
The runners already on-base will usually freeze while the ball is in the air2, waiting to see if it is caught. Once the catch is made, they will need to tag up, especially a runner on third, as they can tag and attempt to score once the ball is touched. Such an attempt isn’t a given; a runner’s willingness to attempt to score depends on a lot of different factors, but if they do make the attempt, it’s almost certain the defense will make a throw to the plate3. As such, a line drive that gets caught can end the inning immediately, lead to a further play at the plate, or another base, and if that doesn’t end the inning, then said inning continues on.