After a blowout in their Players Weekend series opener, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers played a thriller on Saturday afternoon. Justin Turner’s home run in the third inning held as the difference for the Dodgers as they took a 2-1 lead into the ninth.
After Joe Kelly and Pedro Baez combined for three scoreless innings, the baton was passed to Kenley Jansen for his first appearance since blowing a save and being booed off the field at Dodger Stadium.
He was gifted an out when DiDi Gregorious twice bunted foul, with his second attempt resulting in a strikeout to begin the inning. A bit of chaos then ensued as the Yankees loaded the bases behind a bevy of soft contact.
One of their grounders resulted in what was initially ruled a force out on a play that saw Brett Gardner take out Max Muncy with his slide into second base. Gleyber Torres broke for home plate as Muncy writhed on the ground in pain, but was sent back to third base.
After the Yankees left the bases loaded and suffered a 2-1 loss, manager Aaron Boone said the team may protest the result, per Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times:
#Yankees thought Gleyber Torres broke for home before Jansen called timeout on force play at 2B. They may protest. “We’ll certainly inquire with everyone and try to get a good explanation,” MGR Aaron Boone said.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) August 24, 2019
Should clarify this … while Boone and Yanks plan to inquire with the league office about this play they probably don’t have grounds for a formal protest. That would require a miss-application of the rules. This was purely a judgment call by umpire to award timeout.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) August 25, 2019
Boone immediately came onto the field to argue with home-plate umpire Gabe Morales, who appeared to explain he had granted the Dodgers time after Muncy went down. Amid that conversation, the Yankees challenged the out call at second base.
The Dodgers simultaneously challenged Gardner’s slide because of the contact that was made with his hand. Their effort was futile and replay overturned the out call, leaving the bases loaded. Jansen wiggled out of the jam by striking out Mike Tauchman and Gary Sanchez.
Last month, the Boston Red Sox finished a game against the Tampa Bay Rays under protest due to lineup card changes. Pending a potential review by MLB, the Dodgers and Yankees have split the first two games of Players Weekend.