Yanks rally after ‘wonky’ interference call in 1st
ANAHEIM, Calif. — An infield fly and interference call loomed large in a game for the second time in less than a week.
This time it was the New York Yankees and Juan Soto.
The Yankees had the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Angels when they were done in by an unconventional double play.
Despite the strange start to the game, the Yankees were able to rally for a 2-1 victory.
“A tough way to start things when you load the bases there in the first inning and you’ve got a good pitcher on the ropes. But by the letter of the law it was probably the right call,” said New York manager Aaron Boone, who was ejected.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a high popup near the bag at second. Umpires called an infield fly, but Soto bumped into Angels shortstop Zach Neto with his hip as he tried to get back to second base, causing Neto to lose track of the ball and it landed in the infield.
Second base umpire Vic Carapazza ruled that Soto interfered with Neto, leading to the second out.
“Obviously, a wonky play. Once Juan commits to getting there and he’s trying to stay out of the way, if Neto catches it, he might catch it on the bag for a double play. It’s like, ‘Where do you go?'” Boone said.
Carapazza said in a pool report after the game that it was his opinion that Soto didn’t intentionally make contact with Neto to interfere, but Soto was not standing on the base, which is the only time the baserunner is protected.
“I had him interfering with the infielder and called the infield fly first, which now the batter is out. The interference after that was the second out,” Carapazza said.
Neto also agreed that Soto wasn’t trying to interfere. It was just bad timing.
“There was no intention for me to get in his way or him to get in my way, the play just happened and I was trying to catch the ball,” Neto said. “It just got a little behind me. The umpire said every big league shortstop catches that ball. I was trying to catch it, and he happened to be there.”
Boone came out to argue the call and was ejected by Carapazza. It was Boone’s third ejection of the season and 36th of his career.
Tyler Anderson and the Angels got out of the inning unscathed when Alex Verdugo grounded out.
Bench coach Brad Ausmus, who managed the Angels in 2019, took over after Boone was ejected.
Last Thursday in Chicago, umpires ruled White Sox designated runner Andrew Vaughn interfered with Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson on a popup by Andrew Benintendi, ending the game, won by Baltimore 8-6.
MLB said after that game that there is some discretion to not call interference, but Carapazza said that did not apply here.
“I called the infield fly rule first, which now the batter is out. That was not the case of that [White Sox-Orioles] play. It’s a little bit different,” Carapazza said.
Boone, like White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, is hoping MLB can provide even more clarity on interference plays.
“I mean, the sequence matters. But hopefully maybe we can get to revisit a little bit,” Boone said. “Juan is in jeopardy of getting doubled off, and if he doesn’t get there and if you don’t nail the get back the exact way, he gets stuck with Neto probably misjudging a little bit. But what do you do as a runner there?”
OTTAWA, Ontario — Max Pacioretty scored the tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of their first-round matchup.
William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-netter in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves.
Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves.
The Maple Leafs advanced to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in their first-round series.
Toronto grabbed a 3-0 series lead, but Ottawa stayed alive with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 and a 4-0 shutout in Game 5.
The Maple Leafs finally put away the Senators in Game 6.
With the game tied at 2, Pacioretty — a heathy scratch to start the series — scored the winner with 5:39 remaining off a pass from Max Domi that beat Ullmark to the glove side. It was Pacioretty’s first goal of the playoffs.
Scott Laughton hit the post before Nylander iced it into the empty net with 18.3 seconds left.
Matthews put Toronto up 1-0 on a power play with 70 seconds left in the first period when he fired a low shot through traffic.
Nylander, on his 29th birthday, made it 2-0 just 43 seconds into the second when he ripped a shot past Ullmark after Pacioretty forced a turnover from Senators defenseman Nick Jensen.
Ottawa got on the board at 7:28 when Tkachuk tipped a shot past Stolarz.
Toronto, which beat Ottawa four times in five playoffs series in the early 2000s, came close to restoring its two-goal lead when John Tavares poked a loose puck off the post before Ullmark denied Matthew Knies and Brandon Carlo off the rush.
Perron scored with 7:20 left in regulation to tie it on a shot from below the goal line that went in off Stolarz’s back to make it 2-2.
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