Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa had himself a solid day in his team’s 5-3 season-opening win over the New York Yankees on Tuesday with a home run and two RBI. But it was a slow-roller in the top of the eighth inning with the score tied at two that was the most impactful.
With Jose Altuve on second base after a walk and stolen base with one out, Correa‘s little roller was fielded by relief pitcher Dellin Betances, who had little space to throw to first because the Astro was running on the grass inside of the first-base line.
Instead of trying to throw around Correa, Betances tried to throw it over him and skied it into foul territory in short-right field. Altuve scored, which gave Houston the lead and helped open up a three-run eighth inning—all the runs the Astros needed.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi came out to dispute the call with the umpires, claiming that Correa should have been out for running out of the base line. As the manager’s arguments didn’t do much to change the umpire’s mind, Girardi and his team played the rest of the game under protest.
However, on Wednesday, Girardi said the team decided not to file a protest with the league, per Chad Jennings of LoHud.com.
Correa spoke with the media after the game about the play, via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com:
Correa conceded that if Betances hit him in the back instead of trying to throw it over, he might have been out. Girardi also presented that scenario after the game, via YES Network:
Crew chief Dana DeMuth told reporters after the game that Betances could of thrown the ball at his back and it would of been considered impeding.
YES Network’s A.J. Herrmann provided some insight on the situation as he referred to the league’s rulebook:
Had the umpire ruled out Correa, Altuve would have been forced to stay at third base, and the inning would have ended when Carlos Gomez struck out looking. The game would have remained 2-2, and the Yankees could have taken the lead and maybe won the game when Didi Gregorius homered in the bottom of the eighth.
While the Yankees might feel like the umpire’s call ultimately stole the game from them, they luckily have 161 more chances to make up for the tough loss created by the guile of Houston’s young star.
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