A day after a ninth-inning challenged call was upheld, short-circuiting a potential Braves rally and leading to Jeff Francoeur getting ejected for arguing and then tossing his cap onto the field in disgust, an explanation for the umpire’s ruling arrived in interim manager Brian Snitker’s email.
“It said that they couldn’t conclusively say that Ender (Inciarte) had beaten him to the bag, and I was more concerned with whether or not the pitcher had secured the ball,” Snitker said. “The steps were close, but again I would just assume that’s all part of the play when you’re looking at the whole call.
“Maybe they decided that he did (have control of the ball), and if he did, so be it.”
To recap: Trailing 5-2 after the Indians scored three runs in the ninth against closer Arodys Vizcaino, the Braves got a one-out home run from Jace Peterson in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to two. Next up was Ender Inciarte, whose two-run, two-out single in the sixth had tied the score.
Inciarte hits a ground ball that pulls first baseman Carlos Santana off the base, and Santanta tosses to pitcher Cody Allen, who bobbles it slightly before securing it while arriving simultaneously at first base with Inciarte.
The Braves challenged the call, it stood upon review, and Francoeur was ejected by first-base umpire and crew chief Hunter Wendelstedt for shouting from the dugout after the challenge ruling. Francoeur then tossed his cap onto the field and had to be held back by bench coach Terry Pendleton to prevent the veteran outfielder from going on the field to argue face-to-face and possibly getting a suspension.
After the play, Freddie Freeman hit a two-out triple off the left-center wall before Nick Markakis hit a long fly-out to left to end the game.
Francoeur, Inciarte and other Braves were upset not just about that call upheld on the Inciarte play, but the fact that an inordinate number of challenged calls have, in their view, gone against them this season.
“I’m still kind of confused with the whole process,” Braves second baseman Jace Peterson said. “You would like to think instant replay is right every time, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like it is every time. Last night it could have been a game-changer. Ender could’ve scored (on Freeman’s triple) and been down by one run and then (Nick) Markakis sac fly and it’s a tie ballgame. So, definitely confusing and hopefully we can get it straight.”
“I felt like I beat the throw; he didn’t even have the ball, and then still (called) an out,” Inciarte said after the game. “So I don’t know what they’re doing in New York (the crew reviewing the plays), I don’t know what the deal is. We’re just doing our thing, trying to play hard. It’s hard when you lose and you’re trying, when you battle the whole game. Everybody’s in the game, you just want to win and that happens. So it’s a little frustrating….
“For me it’s really frustrating because it seems like the review always happens to me, so I’m always the guy who’s waiting for the call. But as soon as he called me out, I knew what was coming, because it always happens the same way. I was mad. It was good to see Frenchy (Francoeur) having our backs.
“I just hope (the replay situation) doesn’t keep happening because it’s been the whole year, just déjà vu. We’re just going to do our thing and hopefully they realize they can maybe overturn it one time.”
Several Braves players and Snitker were asked by reporters about the concept of “tie goes to the runner” on close calls, as players have heard since they were in Little League. With replay, a tie has rarely, if ever, seemed enough to overturn a call with the replay system, they say.
“That’s the impression (tie goes to the runner) that we were all under,” Peterson said of. “I’m not the guy under the headset looking at it. I wish they would definitely do something to kind of address the problem and we could try to get ‘em right.”
Snitker said, “I don’t know. I guess it’s going to go to whatever the (original) call is. It’s going to be inconclusive to overturn it. It’s more about what the call is than anything, I guess. It’s a judgment call, and if there’s not enough to overturn it, it’ll stand, I guess.”
The explanation from the league “was more about beating the throw,” he said. “Evidently they must have thought that he did (have possession).”
