The New York Yankees’ season ended with a controversial 4-3 defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, with a disputed fan interference call taking center stage at Yankee Stadium.
Trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning and with George Lombard Jr. on first base, Anthony Volpe connected with a 1-0 pitch and sent the ball deep toward left field.
Rays outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. chased the drive toward the wall, but the ball disappeared before he could complete a play.
Yankees fans initially celebrated what appeared to be a game-tying home run.
The moment was later overturned following a replay review that determined a spectator had reached over the wall and touched the ball while it was still over the field of play.
Replay review overturns the apparent home run
After examining multiple camera angles, replay officials ruled that the spectator had interfered with Mesa’s opportunity to make a play on the ball.
The ruling did not result in Volpe being called out.
Instead, officials determined that the ball would neither have cleared the wall nor been caught by Mesa, awarding Volpe a double and Lombard a run.
The decision put one run on the board for New York, making the score 4-3, rather than the 4-4 score that the Yankees initially appeared to have achieved.
A statement from the MLB replay center, cited by New York Post reporter Joel Sherman, said the Replay Official “definitively determined” that the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play.
The statement added that the ball would not have left the playing field or been caught, resulting in the home run being overturned while Volpe was placed at second and one run was awarded.
Yankees fans react as spectators are removed
The decision drew loud boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd, with fans objecting to the removal of what had briefly appeared to be a home run.
The spectators involved in reaching over the wall were subsequently escorted from the stadium by team officials and members of the NYPD.
The incident also prompted a wave of reaction online, with some users criticizing the fans for interfering with a ball during a postseason game.
One social media user described the incident as an example of poor fan behavior, while another joked that the spectators had been so eager to get the baseball that they had cost the Yankees a run.
Another questioned why a fan would attempt to interfere with a ball during a playoff game at the team’s home stadium.
Tampa Bay holds onto one-run lead
Volpe’s double and Lombard’s run brought the Yankees within one, but New York could not produce another score before the game ended.
Rays pitchers Griffin Jax, Cam Booser, Kevin Kelly and Bryan Baker combined for six strikeouts after the controversial play as Tampa Bay protected its 4-3 advantage.
Tampa Bay’s offense had built its lead through RBI singles and home runs.
Jonny DeLuca drove in a run with a single, Ryan Vilade hit a solo home run, and Mesa added a two-run homer.
The 4-3 victory completed Tampa Bay’s sweep of the Yankees and sent the Rays into the American League Championship Series.
Yankees’ postseason drought continues
The defeat means the Yankees have now gone 17 consecutive seasons without winning the World Series.
New York’s last championship came in 2009.
Since then, the Yankees have recorded seven non-Wild Card series victories while losing 11 non-Wild Card series under general manager Brian Cashman.
For manager Aaron Boone, the defeat represented his eighth postseason series loss in nine seasons and his fifth ALDS loss.
Incident recalls the Jeffrey Maier play
The controversy arrived just two days before the 30th anniversary of another famous instance of fan interference involving the Yankees.
During Game 1 of the 1996 ALDS against the Baltimore Orioles, 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier reached over the right-field wall while attempting to catch a Derek Jeter fly ball.
Maier’s attempt prevented Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco from making a play on the ball.
Umpire Rich Garcia nevertheless ruled the play a home run.
The Yankees went on to defeat Baltimore in the series before winning the World Series that year, with Maier later sitting behind the team’s dugout during the championship series.
