Anthony Volpe rounded the bases, touched home plate and then waited out the uncertainty like everyone else.
“Just hoping for the best,” the New York Yankees infielder said. “Crazy.”
With the Yankees’ season at stake, Volpe was denied a tying home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of their AL Division Series when a replay review determined a fan interfered with his drive to deep left field Wednesday night.
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 American League 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.
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.
“I mean, we lost,” Volpe said. “That’s what we’re dealing with now. That’s just what happened.”
Replay umpire Malachi Moore made the call on Volpe’s sixth-inning drive in Major League Baseball’s Replay Center, and players and managers on both sides mostly agreed the right decision was made.
“I thought they got it right,” New York skipper Aaron Boone said. “When he hit it, to my eye looking out there, I was a little concerned right away because it felt like something – I wasn’t sure. And then seeing the replay and seeing it unfold, I thought they did the right thing.”
With George Lombard Jr on base – Austin Wells would have been as well if not for a successful ABS challenge by the Rays – Volpe turned on Griffin Jax’s 96 mph sinker and hit it 357ft to left field. A few feet further and fan interference would have been out of the question.
“He almost had a big home run,” Yankees star Aaron Judge, who missed the series through injury, said. “Off the bat, I liked the chances.”
The play was initially called a two-run homer that would have tied the score at 4-4 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.
“It was interference,” Mesa said in Spanish. “I believe I might have even been able to get to that ball. Not that it matters whether we won or lost. Well, it’s 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.”
Spectator interference became the ruling, and Volpe was awarded an RBI double that scored Lombard from first base, trimming Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-3.
“I don’t know if he would have caught it or not caught it, the guy would have scored or not,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Our replay official Nick [Rogers] said the runner had passed second base at the point where the ball hit the fan’s wrist or hand, and makes sense why they awarded him home.”
There was another slight delay after some fans in left threw debris onto the field, and Spencer Jones then struck out against Jax to end the inning.
The fan who reached out to catch the ball was escorted out of Yankee Stadium by security and police.
“After 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,” MLB said in a statement from the Replay Center.
Judge knew once he saw the side-angle replay that it was fan interference.
“You go from a tie game to down one,” said starting pitcher Max Fried, who gave up a two-run homer to Mesa in the top of the sixth. “[Volpe] made a great swing, and it’s just the way the game goes sometimes. It’s unfortunate because that changes the game.”
Tampa Bay, who have one of the lowest payrolls in MLB, will play either the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians for a place in the World Series.
LA Dodgers 4-1 Atlanta Braves
Andy Pages drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to give Los Angeles the lead as the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Wednesday night to clinch their National League Division Series.
The Dodgers won back-to-back games in Atlanta to take the best-of-five series 3-1 and advance to the National League Championship Series as they seek to become the first NL team to win three consecutive World Series titles.
Pages lined a 3-2 pitch from Robert Suárez up the middle to drive in Teoscar Hernández, who had singled off starter Tyler Mahle, and pinch-runner Tommy Edman for a 3-1 lead. Didier Fuentes had walked pinch-hitter Josue De Paula and Kyle Tucker to load the bases, with Edman running for De Paula. Max Muncy’s solo homer off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth padded the lead and gave the slugger 19 postseason home runs with the Dodgers, extending his franchise record.
Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow, making his first start since 24 September, allowed just one hit but walked five batters in four and two-thirds innings. After he issued two walks in the fifth, left-hander Alex Vesia ended the inning by inducing a groundout to second base from Matt Olson.
The missed opportunity left the Braves with 18 walks in the series, none of which resulted in a run.
Glasnow and four relievers combined to allow just three hits. Tanner Scott pitched a perfect eighth before Edwin Díaz retired the side in order in the ninth for the save.
Mahle, a native of Newport Beach, California, who grew up a Dodgers fan, allowed two runs, one earned, in six and a third innings.
Michael Harris II singled on Glasnow’s first pitch before stealing second and eventually scoring from third on a wild pitch that bounced off catcher Will Smith’s chest protector.
The Dodgers pulled level in the second with the help of two Atlanta errors. Shohei Ohtani walked, stole second and advanced to third on catcher Sean Murphy’s errant throw into center field. Muncy’s pop fly into shallow left field was dropped by shortstop Mauricio Dubón for another error, allowing Ohtani to score.
Hernández crashed into the wall while attempting to catch Ozzie Albies’ leadoff double off Vesia in the sixth. Hernández pointed to his head and neck while speaking with an athletic trainer but remained in the game.
Edgardo Henríquez stranded Albies at second. Henríquez allowed one hit in one and two-thirds scoreless innings to earn the win.
Cleveland Guardians 9-3 Chicago White Sox
It was a pretty typical game for José Ramírez, and that was a big deal for the Cleveland Guardians.
Ramírez broke out of his batting slump on Wednesday, helping Cleveland avoid a sweep in their American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox. The seven-time All-Star had two hits, drove in two runs and scored twice during the Guardians’ 9-3 victory in Game 3.
“Josy, that’s why he’s one of the best players in the league,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “He can hurt you with the bat, the legs and the glove. He showed all that today.”
The 34-year-old Ramírez also made a diving stop at third base on Miguel Vargas’ bases-loaded smash in the sixth inning, preserving Cleveland’s 5-3 lead.
“After that play, it was, OK, this is our game to win, and that’s what we were able to do,” Ramírez said through a translator.
Ramírez was sidelined for five weeks after breaking a bone in his left hand on a swing against Detroit on 13 June. The switch-hitter underwent surgery before returning on 22 July against Minnesota.
But he hit just .229 with two home runs and 20 RBIs in 53 games after the operation. He then went 0 for 6 with two walks in the first two games of the ALDS against the White Sox.
With the Guardians facing elimination, Ramírez delivered – just as he had so many times before.
“It feels special,” Ramírez said. “You know the type of season I had, but it’s important for us to win any game going forward because for us it’s do or die. So it feels really good. ... But for us, it’s the same mindset going forward.”
The first sign Ramírez was headed for a big night came in the first inning, when he hit a 107.9mph line drive that was caught by a diving Randal Grichuk in left field.
“We always know he’s one swing away,” Vogt said. “When he hit that first ball in the first inning ... great play by Grichuk. You knew he was here.”
Ramírez walked and scored on Jo Adell’s three-run triple in the third, helping Cleveland take a 4-1 lead.
Playing in his 48th postseason game – all with Cleveland – Ramírez manufactured an insurance run for the Guardians in the fifth. He doubled, stole third and scored on Chase DeLauter’s grounder to second, beating Kyle Teel’s tag with a headfirst slide.
Ramírez’s savvy baserunning gave the Guardians a 5-2 lead.
“When he got that stolen base at third, that kind of made it a José Ramírez game,” Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan said.
Ramírez popped up leading off the seventh, but he helped Cleveland put the game away with a two-run triple with two outs in the eighth. Ramírez clapped his hands in excitement and threw an uppercut with his right arm as he stood on third after the crucial hit.
“Great game by Ramírez,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Obviously, we know how special a player he is.”
Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 San Diego Padres
Garrett Mitchell tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning before making a pivotal catch on Manny Machado’s drive to the wall in the eighth, and the Milwaukee Brewers advanced to the National League Championship Series for the second straight season with a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night, winning their best-of-five division series in four games.
Mitchell also drove in Sal Frelick with Milwaukee’s first run as the Brewers snapped their 12-game postseason road losing streak dating to 2018 and reached the franchise’s fifth League Championship Series.
Machado nearly tied Game 4 with a 406ft drive off reliever Abner Uribe, but Mitchell coolly tracked it down and reached just above the short wall in right-center field to keep it in the park.
Second baseman Brice Turang then ended the eighth with an acrobatic catch of Ty France’s tailing pop-up in foul territory.
After fending off the surging Padres in four tight games decided by a combined five runs, the 103-win Brewers will get an NLCS rematch with the Dodgers, who swept Milwaukee last October on their way to a second consecutive World Series title.
Fernando Tatis Jr hit a 429ft homer on an otherwise tepid offensive night for the Padres, who repeatedly tested the majors’ best regular-season team before falling short of what would have been the fourth NLCS appearance in franchise history.
One night after the Padres avoided elimination in Game 3, Milwaukee claimed their first road playoff win since the 2018 NLCS by sticking to their season-long formula for success.
Four Brewers pitchers combined on a three-hitter and the defense made nearly every big play, while Milwaukee’s lineup patiently worked counts, collected 10 hits against the Padres’ defense and manufactured enough runs to head home with a victory.
Game 2 hero Jackson Chourio capped his impressive series by driving in Mitchell to become the Brewers’ career leader in postseason RBIs at just 22 years old. Chourio has 17 RBIs, including six in this series, in 16 playoff games.
Milwaukee opened the scoring in the third when Frelick reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on a single by Mitchell, an Orange County native and UCLA product.
Brewers starter and former Padres draft pick Robert Gasser threw four innings of three-hit ball, but Tatis ended his 1-for-19 slump dating to San Diego’s playoff opener with a long shot to center in the third. It was the longest home run ever hit by a Padres player in a postseason game at Petco Park.
Padres starter Walker Buehler allowed just three hits and a run, but manager Craig Stammen replaced him with Game 1 starter Robbie Ray after William Contreras’ leadoff single in the fourth.
Mitchell then lined a ball over first base and into the right-field corner to lead off the fifth, scoring on Chourio’s single through the drawn-in infield. Chourio surpassed Ryan Braun for the most postseason RBIs in Brewers history.
Jake Bauers singled to lead off the sixth and advanced to third on Cooper Pratt’s ground-rule double before scoring on Frelick’s sacrifice fly.
The Padres were already trailing 3-1 in the seventh when Mason Miller allowed three baserunners but no runs. The hard-throwing closer had missed Game 3 for the birth of his first child.
After sitting below .500 and in 11th place in the NL in late July, San Diego surged into the first wildcard spot and then swept the Cubs in the wildcard series last week. The Padres had won 19 of 22 before losing three of four to Milwaukee.
