MLB Umpires Need 13 Minutes To Figure Out What Base A Runner Belongs On

A bizarre play in the seventh inning of Thursday’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins led to a 13-minute delay while umpires decided which base Yandy Diaz was entitled to.

There were only three choices. To be fair, however, it was a play that invoked a seldom-used rule deep in the recesses of the major league rule book.

It all began with two outs in the seventh inning when Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz shot a fly ball into the right field corner at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field. It hopped to Twins right fielder Matt Wallner, who tumbled with the ball — a live ball — into the right-field seats:

Diaz had reached first base when Wallner and the ball fell over the right-field half wall. Could Diaz have reached third base?

If that’s what took the umpire crew of Edwin Moscoso (home plate), Vic Carapazza (first base), Paul Clemons (second base), and Roberto Ortiz (third base) so long to sort out, it was a waste of time.

Not only did the inning end one pitch later, but the rule (however obscure) is fairly straightforward about where Diaz should have been placed.

A comment on Rule 5.06(b)(3)(C) explicitly details the exact circumstance the umpires witnessed: “If a fielder, after having made a legal catch, should step or fall into any out-of-play area, the ball is dead and each runner shall advance one base, without liability to be put out, from his last legally touched base at the time the fielder entered such out-of-play area.”

Diaz was entitled to second base. End of discussion, right?

Not so fast.

As noted by MLB.com’s Do Hyoung-Park, the umpires chewed up so much time that the Twins had little choice but to remove starting pitcher Pablo Lopez from the game.

Lopez was in the middle of an impressive start before the Diaz double-scored Jonny Deluca to bring Tampa Bay within 4-3. In 6.2 innings, he had allowed six hits, one walk, two runs, and struck out nine.

After the delay, the Twins turned to reliever Griffin Jax, who got Brandon Lowe to ground out on one pitch.

The game had Wild Card implications, too: with the loss, Tampa Bay dropped 6.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals, who hold the third American League wild-card spot, and seven games behind the Twins. Less than four weeks remain in the regular season.

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