Umpires award belated run to Red Sox after 16-minute delay in Toronto
Boston’s Anthony Seigler crosses home plate before third out at first, but confusion over outs and a malfunctioning scoreboard leads to a lengthy stoppage during the Blue Jays’ 2-1 victory.
The Boston Red Sox were awarded a run 16 minutes late during a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Monday night, following a chaotic sequence in the seventh inning that required intervention from Major League Baseball’s replay centre in New York. The delay stemmed from a rules check regarding a scoring error and a misunderstanding of the number of outs recorded during a double play.
With no outs and runners on first and second, Boston’s Nick Sogard hit a liner to Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr, who threw to shortstop Andres Gimenez for a force out at second. As the play unfolded, Anthony Seigler advanced to third base. However, the scoreboard erroneously displayed two outs when Ceddanne Rafaela subsequently hit a fly ball to center field.
Seigler left third base without tagging up, and Sogard ran from first. When center fielder Brett Bateman caught the ball, Blue Jays players, including reliever Simeon Woods Richardson and catcher Brandon Valenzuela, assumed the catch constituted the third out and began heading toward the dugout. The ball was eventually thrown to first base, where Sogard was called out, completing the inning-ending double play.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider stated that the team assumed the inning was over after plate umpire Charlie Ramos waved off the run, and he was never given the opportunity to appeal Seigler’s failure to tag up. Crew chief Chris Guccione later clarified on the field that the play was a time play, meaning the run counted because Seigler crossed home plate before the third out was recorded at first base.
Guccione consulted MLB’s replay centre to confirm the ruling before announcing that the run would score, ending the inning with Toronto leading 2-1. Schneider acknowledged the decision, noting that under the timing play rule, the run counts regardless of the tagging error if it scores before the out at first. Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy described the situation as strange, citing confusion on both sides regarding the number of outs.
