The New York Yankees will be seeking an explanation for the controversial call that granted time to the Los Angeles Dodgers, negating the tying run scored by Gleyber Torres.
New York Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres thought he stole a run in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That is until time was granted, killing the play and sending Torres back to third base.
With runners on first and second base and one out in the top of the ninth, Gio Urshela hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield. As Brett Gardner slid into second base to break up the double play, Dodgers second baseman Max Muncy fell to the ground and acted as though he was in pain.
Torres, advancing to third on the grounder, took this opportunity to try to score the tying run as Muncy was rolling around on the ground. However, home plate umpire Gabe Morales granted time to the Dodgers and sent Torres back to third base.
Despite replays showing that Torres was well on his way to home before Morales granted time, it was given to the Dodgers. Kenley Jensen eventually got out of the inning, stranding Torres on third with strikeouts of Mike Tacuhman and Gary Sanchez.
Just seems like a very inconvenient time to call time pic.twitter.com/MD7DDnhqB2
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) August 24, 2019
While the Yankees can’t protest the call—that would have had to happen before another pitch was thrown—manager Aaron Boone did say they will be seeking an explanation from the league.
“Gabe said he killed it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “Just looking back, Kenley held his hands up — it looked to me Gleyber had already started down the line with a guy down on the field. Home plate umpire said he had killed it.”
Torres spoke to the media following the 2-1 loss but didn’t mince his words toward the umpires.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with the umpires today,” Torres told media members. “We can’t control that.”
It is unlikely the Yankees will get an explanation that they like. Even if they do, it won’t change the outcome of the game. But this has been another incident in which the umpire crew has been called into question in having a big impact in the outcome of the game.
Regardless, the Yankees wrap up this series with the Dodgers on Sunday night, where they are hoping to grab the rubber match before heading to Seattle.