The Indians became overwhelming supporters of instant replay on Wednesday night. A controversial ruling in the ninth inning went their way, and there was not a single person inside the clubhouse arguing the umpires’ decision.
After all, the umpiring crew had examined replays.
“It’s not for me to disagree or agree with a call,” starter Justin Masterson said with a smile. “When an umpire makes a call, that’s what the call is.”
There was a lot of grinning inside the Indians’ locker room following their 4-3 victory over the A’s, the ninth win in the past 10 games for the surging Tribe. It was hard to blame the players for enjoying the moment, because right or wrong — and video footage of the play in question appeared to contradict the ruling on the field — it sure felt like the Tribe got away with one at Progressive Field.
With two outs in the ninth, Oakland shortstop Adam Rosales pulled a pitch from closer Chris Perez deep to left field; the baseball bounced high off the wall and fell back to the outfield grass. Rosales was awarded a double, but A’s manager Bob Melvin — from his vantage point in the visitors’ dugout on the first-base side of the field — disagreed, and headed onto the field to argue.
After hearing out Melvin, the umpires retreated to a video room to break down the footage.
Perez initially agreed with the ruling that called the hit a double.
“Obviously, coming back in here, I saw different,” Perez said. “Off the bat, I thought it was a homer. He hit it pretty good. It sounded like a homer. But then it came down, and I thought we had some life. They went and reviewed it. The longer [the review] went, the more I thought, ‘All right. They’re going to say it’s a homer.'”
But when the umpires charged with reviewing the play returned to the field, second-base ump Angel Hernandez pointed to Rosales at second base, confirming the original ruling. The crowd erupted in cheers, and an infuriated Melvin ran from the dugout to argue with Hernandez. He was swiftly ejected.
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