Anthony Volpe rounded the bases, touched home plate and then waited out the uncertainty like everyone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust hoping for the best,\u201d the New York Yankees infielder said. \u201cCrazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Yankees\u2019 season at stake, Volpe was denied a tying home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of their American League Division Series when a replay review determined a fan interfered with his drive to deep left field Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
The swing of emotions came nearly 30 years to the day after young fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the right-field wall at Yankee Stadium on a ball hit by Derek Jeter in the 1996 AL Championship Series against Baltimore. With no replay system in place back then, the home team benefited from umpires calling it a home run instead of interference, and New York went on to win the World Series.<\/p>\n
This time, the Yankees wound up losing 4-3 by the very run that was taken off the board and had their season end in a three-game sweep.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, we lost,\u201d Volpe said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re dealing with now. That\u2019s just what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Replay umpire Malachi Moore made the call on Volpe\u2019s sixth-inning drive in Major League Baseball\u2019s Replay Center, and players and managers on both sides mostly agreed the right decision was made.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought they got it right,\u201d New York skipper Aaron Boone said. \u201cWhen he hit it, to my eye looking out there, I was a little concerned right away because it felt like something \u2013 I wasn\u2019t sure. And then seeing the replay and seeing it unfold, I thought they did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
With George Lombard Jr on base \u2013 Austin Wells would have been as well if not for a successful ABS challenge by the Rays \u2013 Volpe turned on Griffin Jax\u2019s 96-mph sinker and hit it 357ft to left field. A few feet further and fan interference would have been out of the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe almost had a big home run,\u201d Yankees star Aaron Judge, who missed the series through injury, said. \u201cOff the bat, I liked the chances.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play was initially called a two-run homer that would have tied the score at 4 with two outs in the sixth. But a lengthy video review determined a fan reached over the wall to catch the ball as Rays left fielder Victor Mesa Jr tried in vain for a leaping grab.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was interference,\u201d Mesa said in Spanish. \u201cI believe I might have even been able to get to that ball. Not that it matters whether we won or lost. Well, it\u2019s in the past now. I think they could have even called an out, because I was right there. Everything happens for a reason. It was kind of an in-between call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spectator interference became the ruling, and Volpe was awarded an RBI double that scored Lombard from first base, trimming Tampa Bay\u2019s lead to 4-3.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if he would have caught it or not caught it, the guy would have scored or not,\u201d Rays manager Kevin Cash said. \u201cOur replay official Nick [Rogers] said the runner had passed second base at the point where the ball hit the fan\u2019s wrist or hand, and makes sense why they awarded him home.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was another slight delay after some fans in left threw debris on to the field, and Spencer Jones then struck out against Jax to end the inning.<\/p>\n
The fan who reached out to catch the ball was escorted out of Yankee Stadium by security and police.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official definitively determined the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play. The ball would not have left the playing field nor would it have been caught. The call is OVERTURNED, there was spectator interference and no home run. Additionally, the Replay Official scored one run and placed the batter-runner at 2B,\u201d MLB<\/a> said in a statement from the Replay Center.<\/p>\n Judge knew once he saw the side-angle replay that it was fan interference.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go from a tie game to down one,\u201d said starting pitcher Max Fried, who gave up a two-run homer to Mesa in the top of the sixth. \u201c[Volpe] made a great swing, and it\u2019s just the way the game goes sometimes. It\u2019s unfortunate because that changes the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Tampa Bay, who have one of the lowest payrolls in MLB<\/a>, will play either the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians for a place in the World Series.<\/p>\n LA Dodgers 4-1 Atlanta Braves<\/p>\n