Inside The Rays

Rays' Yandy Diaz: '5-Year-Old Could See I Was Safe'

A questionable overturned call in the sixth inning flipped the script for the Tampa Bay Rays in their game with the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. Yandy Diaz was called out at second base after a review, but he said "I think a 5-year-old would have been able to see that I was safe at second.''

Tom Brew

Rays' Yandy Diaz: '5-Year-Old Could See I Was Safe'
Rays' Yandy Diaz: '5-Year-Old Could See I Was Safe' /

NEW YORK — As much as hot dogs and Cracker Jack and a cold beer on a hot sunny night, the New York Yankees getting the occasional break from umpires in a tight game at Yankee Stadium ranks right up there in baseball traditions, too.

It happened again Tuesday night, when a potential big inning for the Tampa Bay Rays was stripped away when a ''safe'' call on a bad throw at second base in the sixth was reversed and called an out, even though there was no obvious video replay that showed enough to overturn the call on the field. Momentum flipped drastically, and the Yankees wound up winning 2-0.

“I thought it was a bad call, and I think it cost us the game,” said Rays third baseman Yandy Diaz through translator Manny Navarro. Diaz was the runner at second base, and had a bird's eye view of the critical play in the sixth inning of a tight game. “We could have at least scored one run. After that, we got a hit and we could have scored some more with that play.

“(The reversed call) was a surprise. I think a 5-year-old would have been able to see that I was safe at second. I don't there even needed to be a replay. I think I was safe.''

Rays manager Kevin Cash fully understood how much the reversal flipped the script in what could have been a big inning.

"It looked like a throwing error, but they reviewed it,'' Cash said. "It was big. An out and a runner we swapped, so it's big. I'll be curious what overturned it. Just from the replay, it looked a little surprising, did they have enough to overturn that?''

It wasn't only the 5-year-olds who thought Diaz was safe at second. Even New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino said he was “1,000 percent sure” Torres had come off the base and starting pitcher Gerrit Cole also didn’t expect the call to be overturned.

After the reversal, the Rays got singles from Manuel Margot and Ji-Man Choi to load the bases, but then Randy Arozarena grounded into a double play on the first pitch he saw to end the threat.

It was an unfortunate turn of events for the Rays, who got a tremendous pitching performance from Corey Kluber. He pitched six innings, and gave up just four hits and two unearned runs on errors by usually-solid outfielders Margot and Arozarena in the fourth inning.

The Yankees (45-16) now lead the Rays (35-26) by a season-high 10 games in the American League East race.

Watch Yandy Diaz's postgame interview

Related stories on Rays baseball

  • YANKEES WIN OPENER (Tuesday): A pair of bad errors in the fourth inning by Tampa Bay outfielders Manuel Margot and Randy Arozarena were all that the New York Yankees needed to win 2-0 on Tuesday night in the first game of an important three-game series at Yankee Stadium. CLICK HERE
  • TERRIFIC PITCHING MATCHUPS: It's best on best when the Tampa Bay Rays take on the New York Yankees in an important three-game series at Yankee Stadium, starting on Tuesday night. Here are the pitching matchups for each night, with a good breakdown on how all six pitchers have done this season. CLICK HERE
  • RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the Rays' complete schedule for 2022, with results and stats thus far, and gametimes and locations for the rest of the year. CLICK HERE
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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.

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