HOUSTON — In case the Yankees did not feel screwed enough by Brian Walsh on Wednesday night, then Thursday happened.
With a man on second in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ rubber game against the Astros, José Altuve hit a soft liner to third base, where Ryan McMahon appeared to catch it and then drop the ball on the transfer.
But Walsh, who was behind the plate Wednesday and had multiple missed calls late that the Yankees felt cost them the game, ruled that McMahon never secured the ball and there was no catch.
Aaron Boone ran onto the field and got the umpires to talk about the play amongst themselves – it was not reviewable – but ultimately they came to the conclusion that McMahon did not catch the ball.
Incredulous, Boone headed back onto the field to try to get an explanation, though somehow he maintained his composure and did not get ejected for what would have been the second night in a row.
Carlos Rodón got the next batter, Carlos Correa, to ground into a fielder’s choice that should have been a double play, except Ben Rice could not catch a low throw from second baseman José Caballero, allowing the run to score from second to make it 4-2.
But Rodón retired the next two batters in order to keep the inning from getting out of hand.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
