Yankees benefit from seemingly bad call ahead of game-winning run vs. Royals

The New York Yankees may have had a bank error in their favor during Game 1 of the ALDS.

In Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Royals, the Yankees seemingly benefited from a crucial call in the seventh inning. With one out and Jazz Chisholm on first base, the Yankees called for a hit-and-run on a 3-2 count to Anthony Volpe. It did not quite go according to plan however as Volpe swung and missed and Chisholm appeared to be tagged out on the ankle at second base from the ensuing throw.

But Chisholm was ruled to be safe at second base by umpire Lance Barrett. The Royals ended up challenging the call, but replay review only confirmed the decision.

Here is the video.

Ensuing angles of the sequence seemed to show that Chisholm had indeed been glove-swiped on the ankle before his foot got into second base, which Barrett might not have been able to see in real time. Nevertheless, replay officials weren’t moved and Chisholm was confirmed to be safe at second after the review period.

That call ended up being absolutely enormous as Chisholm, who otherwise would have been the second out of the inning, went on to score on an Alex Verdugo single just two pitches later. That broke a 5-5 tie and put the Yankees up 6-5, which ended up being the final score of the game.

The fact that Chisholm was initially called safe on the field probably had everything to do with the replay decision as officials would have needed clear and convincing evidence to overturn the call. But that won’t make the Royals feel any better about the bad break in a winnable Game 1, especially right after we saw a similar controversy on Saturday in the NLDS as well.