The Chicago White Sox won a battle against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, but the final blow might have been a little less deserved.
With two outs, a runner in second and the game tied 6-6 late in the eighth inning, White Sox rookie Zach Remillard hit a potential hit against Rangers reliever Grant Anderson. Second runner Elvin Andrus ran home but was too late to beat a pitch from left fielder Travis Jankowski to catcher Jonah Heim, who tagged in and got the inning.
You can see the video above, but what happened next is why we’re here.
The White Sox challenged the play on the field and had a shocking success, with the replay center giving Andrus the run on the grounds that Heim was blocking the plate. A replay showed that Heim had in fact left the entire front of the plate open for Andrus to slide, with only his foot towards the back of the pentagon.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was livid as soon as the MLB Review Center’s decision was announced, earning him an ejection. Heim also looked both angry and puzzled.
Even the White Sox stand was stunned by the call, with color commentator Steve Stone saying “I don’t know why it was a violation.”
You can see another view of the room here:
White Sox closest Kendall Graveman closed out the 7-6 victory with a 1-2-3 lead in the ninth.
Rangers rip call, as MLB tries to explain it
Bochy, predictably, had strong words for the decision after the game.
“To make that call go I’m stunned. It’s absolutely one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen and it’s been replayed, I just don’t understand. I don’t care how many times they’ll try to explain it, you can’t do that in this situation. It’s a shame. It’s embarrassing, really.
“There was never any contact with the receiver. It was a nice tag that I don’t, really don’t understand. Again, I’m shocked. Jonah did a great job there.”
The MLB Replay Center official explanation didn’t help much:
“The catcher’s initial positioning was illegal and his subsequent actions while not in possession of the ball interfered with and obstructed the runner’s path to home plate.”
It’s legitimately hard to even see what MLB’s argument is. As you can see in the video above, Heim was standing with one foot on the right edge of home plate when the pitch was made before moving left to field the ball, which he is allowed to do. per MLB rules. At no time does he stand in front of home plate in a way that would prevent Andrus from sliding down safely.
Like Heim indicated after the gamewhat he did was pretty much manual:
“I set up the way we were taught to set up, at the corner of the plate. Ball got me up the line, I even backed up a bit. He had the whole front of the plate to slide in, so I’m not sure what else I should do there, but it’s a shame that’s the decision they make.
“Looks like they want me not to catch the ball and tag the guy.”
Heim added that he didn’t get an answer when he asked the referees what he did wrong, but then again, it wasn’t the people who called Andrus safe. It was someone in New York.
The loss drops Rangers’ record to 45-28, still first in the AL West. Their differential of +150 points remains the best in MLB.