Stephen Vogt Shares View Of Disputed Call At Plate Against Red Sox, Guardians News

The Cleveland Guardians were given a run after Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong was in violation of blocking Andres Gimenez from sliding into home.

Apr 16, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez (0) slides past Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong (12) during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports / Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians barely escaped Fenway Park with a series victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Guards clinched just that in an extra innings game on Tuesday evening. One of the biggest plays of the game came down to an overturned call at the plate in the top of the sixth inning.

Josh Naylor singled on a hard-hit ball to Wilyer Abreu, but the Boston right fielder misplayed the ball allowing it to skip away. Andres Gimenez decided to take the risk and break for home plate because of the error. Abreu’s throw to the plate was offline causing catcher Connor Wong to veer into the base path. 

Call overturned.

Wilyer Abreu kicking the ball around. Make that 20 errors for the Red Sox in 18 games.

Play at the plate was ruled safe because Connor Wong was "blocking" the plate. Not having fun. pic.twitter.com/3otM6s2nV8

— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) April 17, 2024

Gimenez was originally called out at the plate because Wong applied the tag, but the Guardians decided to challenge the play. Wong clearly got Gimenez, but that’s not what was being argued. Stephen Vogt and Cleveland believed that the runner never had a clear path making it a blocking the plate violation.

The umpires agreed and overturned the call adding a run on the board for the Guardians. 

Apr 16, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez (0) slides past Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong (12) during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports / Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Vogt talked after the game about what he saw on that play and why the team ultimately decided to challenge it. 

“Shout out to [Gunnar Wilhelmy, Replay Coordinator] and [Anthony D’Elia, A.D. Baseball Operations-Technology] for their work. Quick work with 15 seconds," said Vogt. "But clearly, there was no lane for [Gimenez] to slide into home. So, it was huge that we still had our challenge. I mean, that’s a run. We weren’t sure what was going to get called. That play is tough. It’s an interesting play we have in our game, but fortunately, we were on the receiving end of it.”

The blocking the plate calls are some of the hardest decisions for umpires to make. It seems like it should be pretty straightforward, but there is so much grey area and room for interpretation.

The fact that Vogt was confident enough to challenge the play and get it overturned is an impressive accomplishment that ended up being a difference-maker in a win or loss.