2021 MLB playoffs – Inside the bizarre, wild and controversial 13th round of Rays-Red Sox ALDS Game 3

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Game 3 of the American League Divisional Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox may have had one of the craziest endings in playoff history. The two teams battled for more than five hours, with the Rays’ Wander Franco and Randy Arozarena leading an eighth inning comeback to help send the game into the extras. Neither team was able to do much from the 10th to the 12th, but then all hell broke loose in the 13th.

We asked our team of MLB experts to comment on the kind of ending fans will be talking about for years to come.

Dave Schoenfield – What the hell just happened?

At the start of the 13th inning of a game that would last 5 hours and 14 minutes and feature 16 pitchers and 389 shots, Yandy Diaz was on the Rays’ first base with two strikeouts and was running when Kevin Kiermaier lined up a 3-2 slider. Nick Pivetta at the base of the wall in front of the bullpen in the field in the center right. The ball bounced off the warning lane, out of Hunter Renfroe’s leg and over the wall and into the relieving pens.

Diaz was already one step away from third and would have scored easily had the ball been left in play, but after a review by the referee he was fired on third and Kiermaier on second. Pivetta then pulled Mike Zunino out on strikes to end the threat.

“Note that rule 5.05 (a) (8) in the rule book and 5.06 (b) (4) (h) in the referees manual say that” Any good volley ball is deflected by the fielder in the stands or above the fence. in foul territory, in which case the batter will be entitled to second base; but if deflected into the stands or over the fence into fair ball territory, the batter will be entitled to a homerun.

It would be Jose Canseco’s famous game – the flying ball bouncing off his head and over the fence for a home run. For Kiermaier’s stroke, rule 5.05 (a) (8) comes into play, making it a doubled ground rule.

In the late 13th, Patino beat Renfroe, then Christian Vazquez hit a home run against the Green Monster, the sixth home run in playoff history in the 13th inning or later.

Jeff Passan – Why they did well … but it still seems wrong

All credit goes to the review team who examined the part, correctly interpreted the rules, and applied them. The ball leapt off the wall, deflected off Renfroe and went over the fence and into foul territory, advancing the runners two bases. Also, as the MLB Referees Handbook notes, there is a difference between, for example, an outfielder who lines up the ball cleanly and intentionally throws it over the fence and the ball which takes someone out of play. If the fielder has “complete possession”, according to the manual, “the reward is two goals from the runners’ position at the time the ball was kicked or deflected.” Renfroe did not have it. So the rules say “the payoff is two bases from the time of the throw”.

All of that said: it sounds bad – and it would seem just as bad if the Rays benefited from it. Renfroe played the ball badly against the wall. Instead of grabbing it with his hand or glove, Renfroe misjudged the rebound and it ricocheted off his body. In other words, because he did his job poorly … the Red Sox were rewarded.

The MLB rulebook is filled with answers to so many simulation questions, but the game is the game. It presents situations that not even the most creative mind could conceive of. And even if he tries to be fair, there are bound to be holes. One of them appeared on Sunday evening. That may have changed the course of Game 3, as the idea that everything would have turned out the same – the idea that Vazquez’s two-point homer would just have won Game 6-5 – if the Rays had. to mark this point, rather than remain bound, is misleading. And, ultimately, that may be the thing costing Tampa Bay a trip to the ALCS, with the Red Sox now two-game-one ahead and looking to close the series on Monday at Fenway Park.

Joon Lee – What They Say To Fenway

The Rays clearly felt devastated by the outcome of the play. Kiermaier looked visibly distressed, calling the moment a “crush”. Manager Kevin Cash, for his part, did not appear interested in causing controversy over the game, repeatedly citing the rulebook during his post-match press conference.

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Kevin Kiermaier says the ground rule double appeal that cost his team a point is “crushed”.

“I think it would be a very easy decision if someone stepped in and said it was obvious they were going to score,” Cash said. “In saying that, it has been a rule for a long time, and we will play by the rules presented to us this season.”

Kiermaier said he expected Diaz to score but also relied on the rulebook.

“The rules are in place and I cannot sit here and go against them,” Kiermaier said. “It’s just amazing that it worked to their advantage just like that.”

The moment especially caught on after Christian Vazquez’s winning home run, which led to a jubilant celebration at Fenway Park with a festively thrown helmet flying high into the Boston fall skies, several Gatorade tub dunks and a confident team. of the Red Sox ready for an opportunity to eliminate the top of the American League East.

“We are out of luck,” Vázquez said.

Kiké Hernández added: “We played a good game. Play a good game and play the elements, we took care of the home advantage, we came our way. We did what we had to do to win the match. big home runs. “



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