ANAHEIM, Calif. — A stealing and field interference call was significant in a game for the second time in less than a week.
This time it was the New York Yankees and Juan Soto.
The Yankees had the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Angels when they were knocked out by an unconventional double play.
Despite a strange start to the game, the Yankees managed to rally for a 2-1 victory.
“A tough way to start things when you’re loading the bases in the first inning and you’ve got a good pitcher on the ropes. But by the letter of the law, it was probably the right call,” the manager said. New York, Aaron Boone. , who was expelled.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a high popup near the bag at second. The umpires called an infield fly, but Soto hit Angels shortstop Zach Neto with his hip as he attempted to return to second base, causing Neto to lose track of the ball and it landed in the infield.
Second base umpire Vic Carapazza ruled that Soto had interfered with Neto, leading to the second out.
“Obviously it’s a shaky play. Once Juan commits to getting there and he’s trying to stay out of the way, if Neto catches him, he could catch him on the bag for a double game. It’s like, ‘Where are you going?’ ” Boone said.
Carapazza said in a pool report after the game that he believed Soto did not intentionally make contact with Neto to interfere, but that Soto was not standing on base, which is the only time the baserunner is protected.
“I had him interfere with the infielder and called the infield ball first, so the batter is now out. The interference that followed was the second out,” Carapazza said.
Neto also agreed that Soto was not trying to intervene. It was just bad timing.
“I had no intention of getting in his way or him getting in my way, the play just happened and I was trying to catch the ball,” Neto said. “It was just a little bit behind me. The umpire said all the big league shortstops catch that ball. I was trying to catch it, and there it was.”
Boone came out to contest the call and was ejected by Carapazza. It was Boone’s third ejection of the season and the 36th of his career.
Tyler Anderson and the Angels got out of the inning unscathed when Alex Verdugo grounded out.
Bench coach Brad Ausmus, who led the Angels in 2019, took over after Boone was forced out.
Last Thursday in Chicago, umpires ruled that White Sox designated runner Andrew Vaughn interfered with Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson on a popup by Andrew Benintendi, ending the game won by Baltimore 8 -6.
MLB said after that game that there was some discretion in not calling interference, but Carapazza said that didn’t apply here.
“First I did the infield fly rule, and now the batter is out. That wasn’t the case in this (White Sox-Orioles) game. It’s a little different,” Carapazza said .
Boone, like White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, hopes MLB can provide even more clarity on interference plays.
“I mean, streak matters. But I’m hoping maybe we can get back to it a little bit,” Boone said. “Juan might get overtaken, and if he doesn’t make it and you don’t get the comeback exactly right, he gets stuck with Neto who’s probably making a little mistake. But what do you do as a what runner there?”
Gn headline
News Source : www.espn.com
